GIFT  OF 
HORACE  W.  CARFENTIER 


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A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 


©  U.  &  U.,  N.  Y. 


UMBRELLA    PAGODA,    PEKING 


A'CHU 


AND 


Other  Stories 


By 
Emma  T.  Anderson 


1920 


Review  &  Herald  Publishing  Assn. 

Takoma  Park,  Washington,  D.  C. 


CARPENTIEH 

Copyrighted,  1920 

Review  and  Herald  Pub.  Assn. 

Washington,  D.  C. 


hr  ^ 


■     DEDICATION 

To  My  Three  Children 

Always  My  Best  Interpreters 

of  the 

Motives  and  Conduct  of  Those  Other  Children 

We  All  Loved  so  Well 


iw!^4178 


©  U.  &  U.,  N.  Y. 
MISSION    CHILDREN    OF    CANTON,    WITH    ONE    LITTLE    AMERICAN 

See  how  neatly  they  are  dressed.    This  shows  the  uplift- 
ing influence  of  the  gospel. 


PREFACE 

"  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories  "  introduces  the 
reader  to  the  millions  of  China,  the  most  populous, 
the  most  promising  of  all  the  mission  fields  of  the 
world  today. 

The  author  has  given  her  life  in  no  stinted  measure 
to  these  people  whom  she  has  learned  to  love  as  her 
own.  Such  giving  of  love  and  service  is  life's  great- 
est privilege.  In  this  way  we  follow  in  the  foot- 
steps of  the  Master  whose  gift  for  humanity  was  the 
outpouring  of  his  life  —  the  giving  of  himself  in  serv- 
ice  and    in   sacrifice. 

The  author  has  departed  widely  from  the  beaten 
track,  and  instead  of  abstract  descriptions  of  manners 
and  customs,  she  has,  by  a  series  of  true  stories,  in- 
troduced the  reader  to  the  real  home  life  of  the 
common    people. 

We  learn  from  these  stories  that  the  mind  of  the 
Oriental  is  not  essentially  different  from  that  of  the 
Occidental.  New  and  better  means  of  communication 
have  made  the  world  much  smaller  than  it  used  to 
be,  and  we  are  coming  to  realize  more  fully  that 
notwithstanding   racial   distinctions, 

"  One  touch  of  nature  makes  the  whole  world  kin." 
The   story   of   A'Chu    and    the   baby   made   fat    by   his 
self-denial    illustrates    the    heroism    of    everyday    exist- 
ence in   China. 

From  the  first  chapter  to  the  close,  there  is  not 
a  dull  or  tiresome  sketch  in  the  book.  As  we  read, 
we  find  the  author  taking  us  along  with  her  through 
the    experiences    she    describes. 

We  make  journeys  by  wheelbarrow,  sedan  chair, 
jinrikisha,   the   "  rice-power  "   boats,   and   the  mule  cart. 


8  A'Chu   and   Other   Stories 

We  visit  the  heart  of  China   by  steamship   and   rail. 

We  stay  for  a  time  in  Canton,  and  become  acquainted 
with  the  boat  people,  who  live  on  the  rivers,  and  use 
for   all  purposes   the   muddy,   polluted   water. 

We  spend  an  instructive  hour  in  a  native  village, 
and  learn  how  the  people  live. 

We  see  great  strings  of  "  cash,"  the  most  common 
coin  of  the  country,  giving  a  first  impression  of  "  plenty 
of  money,"  until  we  learn  that  each  piece  is  worth 
only   about   one   twentieth   of   a   cent. 

A  visit  to  a  boys'  school  gives  an  insight  into  edu- 
cational methods  in  China. 

We  become  acquainted  with  the  salt  merchant,  and 
learn  that  business  failures  are  not  confined  to  the 
West. 

We  witness  betrothal  and  marriage,  and  sympathize 
with    the   child    wives. 

We  learn  the  religious  customs  of  old  China,  see  the 
ancestral  tablets,  and  witness  acts  of  ancestral  worship. 

We  attend  a  birthday  party  for  an  idol,  and  learn 
the  trouble  that  comes  from  cherishing  wrong  imagi- 
nations. 

Then  comes  the  climax.  Against  the  dark  back- 
ground of  Chinese  paganism  we  are  made  to  feel  the 
vital  power  of  a  life  changed  by  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ,  as  exemplified  in  the  daily  walk  of  a  steadfast 
Christian. 

If  these  stories  shall  serve  to  broaden  the  vision  of 
those  who  read  them;  if  they  shall  stir  hearts  to  lay 
their  best  upon  the  altar  of  service,  as  the  author  of 
this  little  book  has  done;  if  the  missionary  spirit  shall 
be  strengthened  in  behalf  of  this  great  people,  the 
hope  entertained  by  author  and  publisher  will  have 
been  realized.  The   Publishers. 


CONTENTS 

A'Chu  —  How  He  Helped  to  Make  the  Baby 

Fat          -..-...  15 

MODES  OF  TRAVEL  IN  CHINA 

The  Voyage  to  China      -----  23 

Getting  Used  to  Strange  Methods  of  Travel  37 

By  Steamship  and  Rail  to  Central  China  49 

With  Mule  Carts  and  Drivers     -        -        -  65 

A  Wheelbarrow  Trip          .        _        _        _  83 

A  Journey  in  a  House-Boat  -        -        -        -  95 

THE  CHINESE  AND   HOW  THEY  LIVE 

The  Origin  of  the  Chinese    -        -        -        -  103 

China's  Name  of  Promise  -        -        -        -  109 

Canton  from  Day  to  Day      -        -        -        -  113 

One  Hour  in  a  Native  Village        -        -  131 

FORTUNES  OF  THE  CHANG  FAMILY 

The  Salt  Merchant's  Son      _        -        .        -  153 

The  Boy's  School  Days      -        -        -        -  159 

A  Genuine  Chinese  Boy          _        _        _        .  155 

The    Betrothal    -        -        -        -        -        -  170 

The  Wedding  Feast 173 

The  Ups  and  Downs  of  Fortune      -        -  182 

A  Scene  in  Chang  Tak  Meng's  Home      -        -  195 

The  Game  Won  at  Last    -        -        -        -  202 

STORIES   OF   CHINESE   LIFE 

The   Hunchback 209 

The  Sampan  Girl's  Lullaby      -        -        -  215 

Chinese  Infant  Rhymes          _        .        _        .  221 

The  Betrothal  of  A'Lai     -        -        -        -  223 


10  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

RELIGIOUS  CUSTOMS  OF  THE  CHINESE 

A  Queer  Birthday  Party        -        -        -        -  237 

Ways  That  Are  Strange    -        -        -        -  248 

Which  One  Was  Sick?  -        .        .        _  253 

Why  Amah  Was  Afraid  in  the  Tent      -  255 

What  the  Water  Carrier  Feared  -        -  259 

Why  the  Farmer's  Mule  Balked     -        -  261 

Matching  Wits  with  the  Spirits  -        -  265 

A  Beggar  in  the  Spirit  World  -        -        -  270 

The  Worship  of  Ancestors    -        -        -        -  273 

The    Fung-Shui  _        _        _        _        _  285 

REAL  TROUBLES  FROM  WRONG 
IMAGINATIONS 

Where  Was  the  Pearl?  _        _        -        -  299 

The    Haunted    House  _        -        -        -  303 

The  Trouble  That  Came  to  the  Carpenter's 

Wife        -------  308 

THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  GOSPEL 

The  Sign  Over  the  Door        -        -        -        -  313 

Deliverance  of  Keh  Cheng  Soan  and  His  Son  318 

How  A  Kidnapped  Boy  Was  Found  -        -  329 

Wang's    Choice     ------  335 

The  School  Around  a  Rice  Sieve     -        -  339 

The  Influence  of  a  Changed  Life  -        -  345 

A  Steadfast  Christian     -        -        -         -        -  351 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FULL-PAGE     ILLUSTRATIONS 

Umbrella    Pagoda,    Peking 2 

Mission  Children  of  Canton 6 

Seventh -DAY    Adventist    Missionaries    and    Chinese 

Believers 14 

Girls  in  Bethel  School,  Canton 22 

A  Section  of  Hongkong  and  the  Hill  Beyond         -        32 

Chinese  Junk  Under  Full  Sail 36 

A  Wheelbarrow  Trip  in  the  Interior  of  China        -        44 

House-Boats 48 

Pretty  Charm  of  a  Chinese  City  Street  -        -        62 

Traveling    by    Wheelbarrow    ------     82 

Evangelist  Fan  Den   Djuiu         -----        91 

Scene  on  a  Canal 94 

The  Home  and  Family  of  a  Wealthy  Chinaman      -       102 

City  Wall   and   Gate 108 

A  "  Flower  Boat  "  Ready  for  an  Excursion      -        -      112 
Looking  Down  into  Shappat-po  Street,  Canton    -        -  114 
Harbor  of  Canton,  Junks  in  the  Offing     -        -        -      118 
Chinese  Children       -        -        ------  120 

A  Wayside  Booth  Restaurant  in  Canton  -        -      122 

Highest  Point  in  China's  Great  Wall  -        -        -  130 

A   Chinese   Gentleman 152 

Salt  Mines  and  Refinery 154 

Sawing  Lumber  in  a  Chinese  Mill      -        -        -        .      164 
A   "  Lily-Footed  "   Woman         -        -        -        -        -        -  174 

Bridal   Procession 176 

Where  We.\lthy  Natives  Pass  the  Time      -        -        -  194 
"  Lily-Footed  "  Girl  Being  Carried  by  Her  Servant    -  211 

A  Scene  at  Kating 222 

Chinese  Farms 228 

Interior  of  Idol  Temple 236 

The  King  of  Beggars 245 

Noonday  Lunch  on  the  Hillside 256 

Loaded  with  Cases  of  Tea 266 

An  Ancestral  Hall 278 

Paper  House  for  the  Dead 281 

A  Feast-Day   Scene 296 

Chinese  Mother  and  Child 298 

Boys'  School  at  Amoy 304 

Native  Bible  Woman,  Canton 312 

View    of    Amoy 324 

Chan  Sit  Yin,  Another  Bible  Student      -        -        -      334 
Seventh-day  Adventist  Chapel,  Shanghai     -        -        -  344 

Evangelist  D.tou  and  His  Wife 350 

Gospel  Boat  at  Swatow 354 

11 


12  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

SMALL    ILLUSTRATIONS 

Stanley  and  A'Chu 17 

Hawaiian  Orchestra 25 

Children  of  Bethel  School -    27 

Taeko   Miyake 30 

Sanitarium  in  Kobe,  Japan 31 

Steamship  "  China  " 35 

Pearl  River  and  Shipping  at  Changsha       -        -        -    38 

"Rice-Power"    Boat 39 

A  Chinese  Water  Wheel 41 

Chinese   Sedan    Chairs 42 

JiNRiKiSHAS  Waiting   Before   a   Rich   Native   Bazaar 

IN    Shanghai 45 

Queen's   Road,    Shanghai 52 

A   Street  Car  in   Shanghai 53 

Beggars'    Huts 54 

"  Little    Orphan  " 57 

Train  from  Hankow  to  Peking 59 

Mule    Cart 67 

Road  Cut  Deep  by  Centuries  of  Travel  -        -        -    73 

Traveling  by  Ox  Cart 78 

A  Wheelbarrow  Trip  in  Honan 88 

An   Arched   Bridge 89 

Raft  on  the  Yguazu  River 93 

River  Front  near  Changsha  Mission  -        -        -        99 

Pagoda,  Temple,  and  Monastery  near  Canton      -        -  105 

View  of  Pearl  River 115 

House-Boat  Boys  Having  Their  Picture  Taken  -  -  117 
Artificial  Grottoes  in  a  Tea  Garden,  Changsha  -  124 
A  Sedan  Chair  Ride  in  the  Hills  near  Hongkong  -  127 
A  Christian  Procession  in  Heathen  China  -  -  129 
Repairing  House  for  a  Mission  Home  .  .  .  .  132 
City  Wall  and  Gate  at  Waichow      -        -        -        -      133 

Mat   Houses 135 

A  Chinese  Peddler 139 

Around  the  Rice  Bowl 141 

Rice  Field  and  Country  Village  ....      142 

Street  in  a  Chinese  City 144 

Primitive  Grist  Mill 146 

Grinding  Flour  with  Water  Buffatx)  -  -  -  -  147 
Strings  of  Chinese  Cash  Pieces  ....      149 

Freight  and  Passenger  Boat 155 

Chinese    Schoolboys 160 

Examination  Hall,  Canton 161 

Schoolroom  in  a  Temple 163 

Chinese   Schoolboy 166 

Waiting  to  Be  Taught 167 

Bride   and   Groom 179 

Carrying  the  Bride  to  Her  New  Home      -        -        -      181 


List  of  Illustrations  13 

Sewing  for  the  Fibst  Son 186 

Wealthy  Village  Home  Ready  for  the  New  Year  -      189 

A  Chinese  Doctor 190 

In  an  Opium  Den 191 

Fields  of  Poppies 193 

Telling  Fortunes  by  the  Palm 202 

G-iRLs  in  a  Mission  School 203 

Cargo   Boats  216 

Little  Chinese  Girl  Carrying  Baby       -        .        .        .  217 

Women    Carriers 224 

Women   Unloading   Cargo 224 

Gathering    Fuel     -        -        - 226 

Buddhist  Priests  at  Worship 239 

Hall  of  the  Five  Hundred  Genii        -        -        -        -      242 

Professional  Bar  Cleaner 250 

In   the  Barber   Shop 251 

Mother  and  Daughter 252 

A   Rope   Factory 254 

Woman  Water  Carrier 258 

Coolies  Carrying  Cases  of  Oil 262 

Port  Arthur  Harbor,  Manchuria 264 

Mission  in  Kiangsu 269 

The  Roadway  to  Ming  Tombs 272 

Stone  Elephant 274 

Stone  Guards 275 

View  of  a  Street  in  Nanking 286 

Native  Style  of  Architecture 287 

Tombs  for  Temporary  Interment  While  Waiting  for 

"Lucky    Ground" 289 

A  Chinese  Deed 291 

Fishing 293 

A  Little  Burden  Bearer 301 

Flour  Mill  and  Rice  Fields 302 

Our  First  Hakka  Students 306 

Native   Evangelists 307 

Homes  in  Changsha 310 

A  Colporteur 314 

A  Seeker  for  Truth 315 

Left  Out  in  the  Sun 319 

Keh  Nga  Pit  and  His  Family 322 

Street  in  a  Chinese  Village 326 

Itinerating  with  Wheelbarrow,  Bedding,  and  Books  340 

Interior  of  Chapel,   Shanghai 347 

Chinese  Evangelist  with  Bookstand  and  Chart      -      348 
Studying  the  Bible  ..--..-  349 

The  Bamboo  Mat  Tabernacle 352 

Shangtsai    Hsien    Mission 356 

A   Chinese  Writing   Box 357 

School    Girls,    Honan 358 


A'CHU  — HOW  HE   HELPED   TO  MAKE  THE 
BABY  FAT 

A'CHU  and  his  sister  live  with  their  father  and 
mother  and  aged  grandmother  on  the  street  back 
of  the  old  mission  chapel.  The  house  is  small.  There 
is  but  one  room  on  the  ground  floor,  and  a  tiny  attic 
under  the  roof  in  the  west  gable. 

At  any  time  of  day  A'Chu's  mother  may  be  seen 
seated  on  a  low  bamboo  stool.  All  day  long  she  is  busy 
weaving  the  small  rush  mats  used  for  wrapping  tea  boxes 
for  shipment.  The  sister  sits  near  on  a  piece  of  matting 
spread  out  on  the  red  brick  floor.  She  patiently  turns  the 
bushy  ends  of  the  rushes,  pushing  them  back  between  the 
woven  strands,  so  binding  the  edges  smooth  and  strong. 
By  working  steadily  she  is  able  to  bind  off  ten  mats  in 
a  day,  and  receives  a  copper  cash  piece  for  each  mat. 
This  amounts  to  one-half  cent  for  the  day's  work. 
That  is  not  much,  you  say;  but  every  little  helps,  and 
mother  receives  but  ten  cents  for  her  day's  work. 

The  Chang  family  have  not  always  been  so  pinched. 
Once  they  lived  in  a  fine  house  on  one  of  the  big  streets. 
A'Chu  was  dressed  in  silk  every  day,  with  white  stock- 
ings and  black  satin  shoes.  His  sister,  too,  wore  dainty 
clothes.  Then  there  was  always  plenty  of  good  food  at 
mealtime,  with  fruits,  sweetmeats,  and  delicacies  be- 
tween meals. 

The  father,  Chang,  kept  a  gay  house  those  days. 
Rich  men  and  rich  men's  sons  came  to  sit  and  play  — 
to  gamble  with  dice  and  cards  and  other  games,  and 
afterward   to   smoke   the   dreadful   opium   till   they   fell 

15 


16  A'Chii  and  Other  Stories 

asleep,  stupid  as  drunken  men.  Plenty  of  money  came 
into  Chang's  hands  from  these  vices  of  his  countrymen, 
and  he  spent  it  freely. 

Then  came  the  day  when  all  the  opium  dens,  as  such 
places  are  called,  were  closed  throughout  the  city.  No 
one  was  allowed  to  sell  the  horrible  drug  any  more. 
Chang's  gay  house  was  closed,  and  a  big  red  paper  seal 
was  pasted  on  the  front  door. 

A'Chu's  father  had  never  worked,  and  he  was  not 
willing  to  work  now.  He  expected,  rather,  to  get  rich 
quickly  without  toil.  While  his  family  struggled  for 
their  daily  food,  Chang  spent  his  time  gambling  and 
betting.  He  was  always  waiting  for  the  "  lucky  day  " 
when  he  should  become  rich  all  at  once. 

For  some  time,  of  late,  Mrs.  Chang  had  been  looking 
pale,  but  the  soft  light  in  her  dark  eyes  and  the  smile 
about  her  thin  lips  showed  plainly  that  some  new,  sweet 
hope  cheered  her  sad  heart.  Later  she  was  gone  from 
the  place  near  the  door.  The  bamboo  stool  was  set 
back  against  the  brick  wall  where  several  unfinished  mats 
lay  in  a  heap  with  bundles  of  dried  rushes.  A'Chu 
tried  his  best  to  sweep  away  the  litter  with  a  heavy, 
awkward  broom  of  bamboo  splints,  Fung  Mui,  with 
steaming  cups  and  bowls,  passed  quietly  back  and  forth 
from  the  dingy,  dark  little  cook-house  in  the  rear,  up  the 
narrow,  steep  stairs  to  the  tiny  bedroom  in  the  attic. 
Mrs.  Chang's  sweet  daydream  had  come  true.  Up 
there  in  the  attic  she  snuggled  close  to  her  heart  a 
newborn  baby  boy. 

Some  days  had  passed  since  A'Chu  left  at  our  garden 
gate  news  that  a  baby  brother  had  come  to  his  home. 
How  happy  he  had  been  that  day!  His  little  black  eyes 
fairly  danced,  and  his  chubby  brown  feet  kept  time  to 


How  He  Helped  to  Make  the  Baby  Fat  17 

the  music  of  his  words.  Its  tiny  ears,  soft  little  fin- 
gers, fat  feet,  and  thick  black  hair  were  described  in 
glowing  words  hy  the   delighted   elder  brother. 

Today  as  A'Chu  stood  outside  the  gate  he  seemed 
quite  changed.  His  round  face  was  thinner,  rather  pale, 
and  much  more  sober  than  usual.  His  arms  hung  limp 
at  his  sides,  and  his  bare  feet  clung  to  the  paving  stones. 


STANLEY    AND    A'CHU 


The  dark  eyes  gazed  wistfully  through  the  crack  in  the 
gate.  There  in  the  cook-house,  cook  was  lifting  with 
a  long-handled  fork  the  doughnuts  from  a  steaming 
kettle,    and    laying   them    out   to    drain. 

"May  I  have  a  doughnut,  cook?"     It  was  my  own 
little  boy  that  spoke. 

"Certainly;  help  yourself,"  and  the  good-natured  cook 
motioned  toward  the  brown  rings  on  the  tray. 

There  was  a  slight  rattle  of  the  garden  gate,  and  the 
two  boys  exchanged  glances  between  its  two  leaves, 
2 


18  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

"  May  I  have  two  ?  " 

"  Help  yourself,"  cook  replied,  pointing  as  before. 

The  gate  opened  a  wee  way,  and  one  doughnut  was 
slipped  through.  It  was  gone  in  a  moment,  down,  and 
out  of  sight. 

"  How  fragrant  they  are !  "  said  A'Chu,  as  he  licked 
the  last  crisp  morsel  from  his  lips. 

The  other  doughnut  was  slipped  out. 

"Such  a  good  heart,  you  are!"  gratefully  returned 
the  boy  outside. 

"Cook,  may  I  have  another  doughnut?"  coaxed  the 
boy  on  the  inside. 

"  Help  yourself,"  he  replied,  quite  pleased  with  the 
way  his  products  were  going. 

"  I'll  take  two,  then,  if  you  please,"  said  the  lad, 
selecting  the  fattest  and  puffiest  ones. 

One  more  crisp  ring  passed  through  the  gate,  and  as 
its  last  crumb  disappeared,  a  fourth  one  followed  it. 
The  "  feed  "  seemed  to  be  enjoyed  quite  as  much  by 
the  boy  on  the  inside,  who  ate  none,  as  by  the  boy  on 
the  outside,  who  ate  all.  The  gate  was  opened  wide, 
and  the  two  boys  stood  talking  very  earnestly  in  low 
tones. 

"May  I  help  myself  to  two  more?"  proposed  the 
insider. 

Cook  evidently  took  the  request  as  a  compliment,  and 
returned  a  broad  grin  that  revealed  the  full  double 
row  of  his  splendid  white  teeth. 

"  How  many  doughnuts  does  a  boy  ordinarily  eat  at 
one    time? "    I    inquired    from    an    upper    window. 

"  I  will  tell  you  how  it  is,  mother,  all  about  it," 
returned  the  insider.  He  seemed  quite  aroused  by  some- 
thing  I   did   not   understand.      Placing  the   two   brown 


How  He  Helped  to  Make  the  Baby  Fat  19 

rings  in  the  red  handkerchief  spread  out  to  receive  them, 
he  sprang  up  the  stairs,  calling  back  toward  the  gate 
as  he  came,  "  Be  sure  to  give  those  to  Fung  Mui." 

"  They  must  be  very  hungry,"  he  began,  quite  out  of 
breath  as  he  reached  the  upper  step.  Then  I  heard  how 
A'Chu  was  helping  to  make  the  baby  fat.  That  day 
when  the  new  baby  brother  first  lay  in  its  mother's  arms, 
the  old  grandmother  had  measured  the  rice  left  in  the 
brown  earthen  jar.  There  were  just  over  a  half  dozen 
bowls  full.  This  rice,  with  a  piece  of  dry  salt  fish,  was 
all  the  food  in  the  house.  In  the  tin  money  box  were 
the  eleven  cents  received  for  yesterday's  run  of  tea  mats. 

Together  the  young  children  and  the  old  woman 
counted  the  cash  pieces  over.  It  would  be  four  or  five 
days  before  the  mother  could  rise  from  her  bed  and 
come  downstairs  to  weave  mats  again.  Even  then,  the 
grandmother  said,  it  would  be  longer  yet  before  she 
could  earn  as  much  money  as  she  had  before.  And  rent 
day  —  the  landlord  would  come  for  his  rent  just  the 
same    as    before    the    baby    came. 

What  should  they  do?  If  the  money  were  spent  very, 
very  carefully,  there  would  be  barely  enough  to  buy  food 
for  the  mother.  She  must  have  food,  the  old  woman 
said,  good  nourishing  food,  or  else  there  would  be  no 
milk  for  baby.  In  that  case  he  would  grow  thin  and 
scrawny.  Yes,  the  mother  must  be  fed  for  the  baby's 
sake. 

The  children  looked  at  the  wrinkled  face,  the  thin, 
slender  hands  and  bent  form  of  the  old  woman,  then  at 
each  other.  She,  too,  must  have  something  to  eat.  No 
dutiful  Chinese  child  would  take  food  while  an  aged 
parent  went  without.  Young  as  they  were,  they  knew 
their  duty,  and  decided  at  once  to  do  it. 


20  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

A'Chu  would  do  the  buying.  He  knew  the  markets, 
and  a  boy  could  get  about  the  streets  more  easily  than 
a  girl.  The  cash  pieces  were  divided,  and  each  day's 
allowance  was  strung  on  a  string  by  itself.  As  he  fin- 
gered the  greasy  coins,  the  boy  felt  keenly  this  new 
responsibility.  He  determined  that  each  piece  should  be 
used  to  buy  the  very  best  the  market  could  afford.  Fung 
Mui  would  do  the  cooking,  and  plan  the  small  allow- 
ance of  relishes  for  each  meal. 

"  I  found  a  very  big  egg  in  the  market  this  morning," 
A'Chu  had  confided  to  his  friend  at  the  gate,  with  great 
satisfaction.  "  We  gave  mother  a  bowl  of  rice,  some 
young  tender  bean  sprouts,  and  half  the  egg  for  break- 
fast. She  had  soup  made  from  a  whole  fish  head  at 
noon.  Tonight  she  will  have  more  rice,  a  little  fresh 
beef,   and   the   other   half   egg   for   supper." 

"What  do  you  eat?"  asked  the  boy  on  the  inside. 

"  Fung  Mui  pours  water  into  the  kettle  after  the  rice 
has  been  taken  out.  When  the  crust  boils  soft,  we  eat 
that  as  soup.  Grandmother  must  have  rice.  She  is  old. 
We  are  young  and  strong,"  replied  the  boy  on  the 
outside.  "Oh,  our  baby  is  growing  so  fine!"  he  ex- 
claimed with  delight,  but  in  a  whisper,  lest  some  evil 
spirit  should   hear   what   he   said. 

The  baby  was  now  more  than  a  week  old.  Without 
a  thought  of  complaining  since  that  first  day,  the  two 
children  had  eaten  nothing  but  the  hot  soup  from  the 
rice  kettle.  That  was  how  A'Chu  helped  to  make  the 
baby    fat. 


Modes  of  Travel  in  China 


GIRLS   IN   BETHEL    SCHOOL,   CANTON 


THE   VOYAGE   TO   CHINA 

IT  is  very  plain  that  Jesus  must  have  included  China 
in  his  plan  when  he  said,  ''  This  gospel  of  the  king- 
dom shall  be  preached  in  all  the  vt^orld  for  a  witness 
unto  all  nations;  and  then  shall  the  end  come."  It  is 
just  as  plain  that  if  the  Chinese  are  to  hear  the  gospel 
of  the  kingdom,  men  and  ^  women  who  believe  it  must 
teach    it    to    them. 

Many  witnesses  will  be  required  to  bear  the  mes- 
sage to  a  great  nation  like  the  Chinese.  Some  must  go, 
and  we  who  were  leaving  that  day  were  glad  of  the 
privilege  of  carrying  our  gospel  message  to  this  far- 
away  land. 

However,  no  matter  how  glad  one  may  be  to  go  on 
such  an  errand,  there  must  be  some  feelings  of  sadness 
when  good-bys  are  said  and  one  really  starts  off  to  be- 
come a  missionary  in  a  strange  land. 

The  planning  and  work  required  to  get  ready  for 
such  a  voyage  keep  one's  mind  so  full  and  his  hands 
so  busy  he  cannot  realize  what  is  going  on  till  his 
part  is  over  and  he  stands  on  the  deck  of  a  great 
ocean  steamer,  a  passenger  ticketed  to  a  distant  country. 
The  quartermaster  strikes  the  hour;  a  deep-toned  whistle 
sounds  the  signal;  friends  who  have  come  on  board  for 
a  look  into  the  cabin  and  a  last  word  of  kind  wish  or 
farewell,  hurry  back  to  the  wharf.  The  gangplanks 
are  drawn  up.  The  great  engines  down  below  pulse 
and  throb  with  the  desire  to  be  off.  Another,  lighter 
signal  from  the  whistle,  and  the  engines  are  started. 
The  ship  moves.  The  friends  on  the  wharf  wave  their 
handkerchiefs.  But  look!  they  are  growing  smaller  and 
smaller!     The  city  behind  them  is  fleeing  away! 

23 


24  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

This  is  about  what  our  experience  was  when,  on  the 
eve  of  Christmas,  1901,  we  left  our  home  in  the 
Middle  West  and  a  week  later  took  passage  on  the 
steamship  "  America  Maru,"  bound  for  Hongkong,  off 
the  southeast  coast  of  China.  The  waters  of  San 
Francisco  Bay  lay  about  us,  beautiful  in  the  sunlight, 
while  the  ship  glided  out  toward  the  Golden  Gate  so 
smoothly  that  it  seemed  the.  city  and  rolling  hills  of 
the  shore  line  were  leaving  us  rather  than  that  we  were 
parting  from  the  farthest-west  limit  of  our  native  land. 

The  dinner  gong  sounded,  and  the  captain  urged 
all  passengers  to  go  inside  for  "  tiffin,"  or  luncheon. 
"  No  telling  when  you  will  get  another  square  meal," 
he  said.  "  There  has  been  rough  weather  outside  lately. 
We  shall  strike  the  swells  when  we  go  through  Golden 
Gate  and  out  to  sea." 

The  dinner  was  excellent.  The  first  meal  at  sea 
is  always  a  good  one.  Perhaps  ships'  cooks,  like  our 
captain,  think  there  is  no  telling  when  the  passengers 
will  feel  like  eating  again.  They  start  out  well  to 
encourage  them.  The  long  swells  which  the  captain 
had  promised  came  with  the  dessert.  Pie  and  ice  cream 
were  forsaken  on  the  spot.  Heaping  bowls  of  nuts  and 
raisins  were   left   untouched. 

Most  of  the  passengers  went  directly  to  the  deck, 
hoping  the  fresh  air  might  relieve  the  swimming  in  their 
heads  and  that  queer  feeling  at  the  stomach.  Some 
were  wise  sailors.  These  went  straight  to  their  cabins, 
and  lay  down  on  their  backs.  A  few  hardy  souls  stayed 
at  the  tables  and  enjoyed  the  rest  of  the  meal,  together 
with   a   good   laugh   at   their   seasick   fellow   passengers. 

The  swells  kept  coming,  faster,  longer,  and  the  ship 
went   on   diving,    rolling,    shivering,    just    as   if    it   took 


The  Voyage  to   China  25 

pleasure  in  torturing  its  voyagers.  Our  cabin  trunk 
skated  back  and  forth  across  the  floor  of  the  state- 
room, while  suitcases  and  hatbox  hopped  about  to  keep 
out  of  its  way.  When  at  last  we  did  manage  to  get 
into  our  berths,  we  were  obliged  to  fasten  ourselves  by 


HAWAIIAN    ORCHESTRA 

This  band  of  musicians  meets  the  boats  from  America 
bearing  missionaries   to  other  lands. 

straps  bolted  to  the  wall  at  the  back,  to  keep  from  being 
pitched  out. 

"  She  isn't  loaded  quite  evenly  down  below,"  explained 
the  first  officer.  "  We  put  off  cargo  in  Honolulu.  After 
that   she   will    ride   more   steadily." 

It  was  a  week's  run  to  Honolulu,  but  the  passengers 
felt  relieved  to  think  it  would  be  better  sometime. 
The  stewardess  whispered,  as  she  staggered  from  cabin 
to  cabin,  helping  where  needed  most,  that  she  had 
made  a  number  of  trips  with  the  "  America,"  "  She 
always  acts  this  way,   and   they  always  make  the  same 


26.  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

excuse  for  her."  Before  we  reached  the  end  of  our 
four  weeks'  voyage,  all  the  passengers  agreed  the  trouble 
lay  with  the  boat  herself.  Probably  she  was  too  light- 
weight to  carry  herself  steadily  in  the  deep  sea. 

There  were  four  in  our  party, —  my  sister.  Miss  Ida 
Thompson,  Mr.  Anderson,  myself,  and  our  four-year- 
old  son.  Miss  Thompson  suffered  most  during  the 
week's  voyage  to  Honolulu.  When  we  reached  this 
beautiful  island  harbor,  she  was  too  weak  to  walk  ashore. 
However,  a  day's  rest  under  Dr.  Cleveland's  care  at 
the  quiet  sanitarium  among  the  palms,  did  wonders. 
When  we  again  went  aboard,  in  the  evening,  she  was 
able  to  "  walk  the  plank  "  (which  was  really  to  climb 
a  swinging  stair  up  the  ship's  side)  with  the  rest  of  us. 

The  day  in  Honolulu  was  the  Sabbath.  The  climate 
of  this  island  city  is  always  that  of  warm  springtime, 
and  the  flowers  seem  never  fading.  The  service  that 
day,  with  a  church  full  of  warm-hearted  believers  of  dif- 
ferent nationalities, —  English,  American,  French,  Chinese, 
Japanese,  and  native  Hawaiians,  —  was  like  a  promise  of 
the  great  meeting  day  when  many  shall  come  from  the 
east  and  the  west  and  shall  sit  down  in  the  kingdom  of 
God.  The  surroundings  of  tropical  trees  and  flowers 
recalled  the  promise,  "  Behold,  I  make  all  things  new." 

During  this  first  week  of  the  voyage,  Miss  Thompson 
seemed  to  have  completed  what  the  sailors  called 
"  growing  sea  legs "  (learning  to  walk  on  board  a 
tossing  ship).  After  that  she  was  able  to  be  up  and 
to  walk  about  some  on  deck.  But  our  worst  time  was 
to  come. 

The  first  day  after  leaving  Honolulu,  our  son  was 
taken  with  chicken-pox.  In  another  stateroom  near  by 
was    a    woman    traveling    alone    with    four    small    chil- 


The  Voyage  to   China 


27 


dren.  She  was  greatly  agitated  at  the  thought  of  her 
restless  brood  being  taken  sick  on  shipboard.  To  pre- 
vent any  danger  of  the  disease  spreading,  it  was  de- 
cided to  quarantine  our  unlucky  boy.  That  meant 
he  would  be  taken  to  a  room  away  from  the  other 
passengers,    and   kept   there    till   the   last    little   chicken- 


CHTLDRET7    OF   BETHEL    SCHOOL 


With  their  teacher.  Miss  Ida  Thompson  (upper  right- 
hand    corner). 

pox  had  disappeared  from  body,  head,  face,  and  hands. 
It  might  be  three  weeks.  The  ship's  doctor  would  take 
him  in  charge,  he  said,  and  put  him  in  care  of  a  nurse. 
Or,  if  we  chose,  father  or  mother,  or  both,  could  go 
with  the  child,  instead  of  a  nurse.  Of  course  we  de- 
cided to  stay  together. 

We  followed  the  doctor,  and  a  number  of  cabin 
stewards  with  our  luggage  followed  us.  Downstairs, 
below  the  deck,  through  narrow  halls,  we  felt  the  way, 
following  the  doctor's  lead,  to  a  room  in  the  prow  of 
the  vessel.     It  had  been  rough  sailing  in  our  room  near 


28  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

midship;  what  would  it  be  here,  where  we  should  feel 
the  first  shock  and  returning  tremor  of  every  wave? 
For  us  there  was  no  choice.  This  was  quarantine  quar- 
ters, and  the  doctor  unlocked  the  door.  Light  was  shed 
into  the  room  through  a  round  porthole  below  the  deck. 

"Whew!"  the  doctor  exclaimed,  as  he  entered  the 
cabin.  He  threw  open  the  porthole.  The  sea  breeze, 
rushing  in,  drove  the  air  confined  in  the  cabin  through 
the  open  door  into  our  faces.  "Whew!"  we  echoed. 
We  had  heard  all  manner  of  disquieting  stories  about 
the  kinds  of  patients  that  had  occupied  that  room  on 
recent  voyages.  However,  this  first  whiif  of  air  with 
its  smothered  odors  of  seventy-times-seven  kinds  of  disin- 
fectants and  fumigators,  convinced  us  there  was  no 
danger.  Shut  up  with  those  smells,  no  germs  could  have 
lived   through   the  week  since  we   left   land. 

Our  patient  was  not  very  sick,  but  we  were.  He 
spent  a  good  part  of  the  time  waiting  for  the  stewardess 
to  bring  the  menu  so  that  he  could  choose  what  he 
would  have  for  the  next  meal.  The  slow  process  of 
marking  the  menu  usually  closed  with  the  remark, 
"  Wish  this  boat  carried  sugar  corn  and  shredded  wheat, 
'stead  of  everything  made  of  meat."  The  next  hour 
of  tedious  waiting  for  the  tray  was  relieved  only  by 
the  sigh,    "  Wish   that  stewardess  would   come." 

As  for  ourselves,  we  could  have  wished  never  to  see 
menu,  stewardess,  or  meal  tray.  The  thought  of  food 
was  utterly  distasteful.  As  we  sat  with  feet  braced 
on  the  floor  and  our  heads  against  the  wall,  what  we 
wished  for  was  a  breath  of  fresh  air  and  the  boat  to 
stand  still  long  enough  for  us  to  breathe  it  deep.  He 
got  his  wish  three  times  a  day;  we  waited  two  long 
weeks  till  the   "  America "   finally  rolled   into  the  har- 


The  Voyage  to  China  29 

bor   at  Yokohama,   Japan,    for   our  wish   to   come   true. 

It  brought  quick  relief  when  the  anchor  was  dropped 
and  the  boat  at  last  stood  still.  The  air  came  through 
our  port,  sweet  and  cool.  Of  course  it  had  been  the 
same  fresh  sea  air  all  the  way,  but  how  could  we  know 
it,  with  that  terrible  seasick  feeling?  Up  above,  every- 
body was  moving  about,  merrily  preparing  to  go  ashore 
for  a  day  in  picturesque  Japan. 

"  Here's  the  number."  It  was  the  doctor's  voice 
outside  our  door. 

"  The  quarantine  officers,"  the  same  voice  announced 
a  moment  later,  when  four  strange-looking  men  crowded 
into  the  cabin,  and  began  stripping  up  our  patient's 
clothes.  They  talked  rapidly  in  a  language  that  to 
our  unaccustomed  ears  sounded  like  ducks  clacking. 
They  shook  their  heads  and  looked  serious.  One  of 
them   spoke   to   the   doctor   in   English. 

"  No,  no !  "  the  doctor  replied  positively.  "  No  small- 
pox,—  only  chicken-pox."  The  ship's  doctor  would 
not  like  it  to  be  said  the  "  America "  had  smallpox 
aboard.  Japan's  new  laws  were  strict.  The  ship  would 
have  been  obliged  to  stay  outside  quarantine  limits, 
and   none  of   her  passengers   could   have   landed. 

The  officers  talked  together  again.  They  nodded 
their  heads  and  looked  less  grave.  As  they  passed  out, 
the  leader  again  spoke  with  the  doctor,  who  looked 
relieved. 

"  Well,  they  decided  to  call  it  chicken-pox,"  he  said 
to  us,  when  they  had  gone.  "  The  ship  will  not  be 
held  up,  but  you  are  forbidden  to  go  ashore  or  to  mingle 
with  other  passengers  while  in  harbor."  Then  he  led 
us  up  to  a  part  of  the  forward  deck,  which  we  would 
be  allowed  to  occupy  for  the  day. 


30 


A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 


That  was  the  last  we  saw  of  the  ship's  doctor  till  the 
sun  was  going  down.  The  passengers  had  all  returned 
from  the  day's  pleasure  of  sight-seeing  and  curio  hunt- 


TAEKO    MIYAKE 

A  charming  little  Japanese 

ing.  The  "  America  "  was  ready  to  go,  but  three  of 
her  officers  were  missing.  After  an  hour's  wait  three 
jinrikishas  came  rushing  down  to  the  wharf.  A  row- 
boat   was   called,    and   with    a   great    deal   of    fuss   and 


The  Voyage  to  Chi 


31 


trouble  the  missing  officers  (two  men  and  a  woman) 
were  got  into  it.  One  of  the  men  was  in  trouble.  He 
tumbled  into  the  boat,  almost  upsetting  it,  and  lay  down 
in  the  bottom  while  the  oarsmen  rowed  to  the  ship. 
Afterward  we  found  out  the  man  in  the  bottom 
was  the  ship's  doctor.     His  family  had  sent  him  to  sea 


SAJVITARIUM    IN    KOBE,    JAPAN 

to  cure  him  of  drunkenness.  While  on  board  he  was 
limited  to  the  use  of  a  small  amount  of  intoxicants 
each  day,  but  when  in  port  he  made  up  for  it.  That 
day  the  stewardess  had  been  sent  ashore  with  him  to 
use  a  woman's  influence  to  keep  him  sober.  The  plan 
had  failed,  and  not  being  herself  able  to  persuade  him 
to  come  aboard  at  the  time  for  sailing,  she  had  been 
obliged  to  send  a  messenger  to  call  the  freight  agent, 
a  steady,   Christian  man,   to   come   and   get  him. 

By  the  time  we  reached  Kobe,  Japan,  our  little  pa- 
tient had  entirely  recovered,  and  we  went  ashore  with 
the  other  passengers. 


The   Voyage  to  China  33 

Kobe  is  one  of  the  most  charming  cities  of  the  Island 
Kingdom.  We  had  been  told  that  the  choicest  porce- 
lains and  potteries  made  in  Japan  are  to  be  found  here, 
and  so  we  found  it.  The  shops  and  market  places 
fairly  overflowed  with  tea  sets  and  the  many  porcelain 
novelties  this  clever  people  know  so  well  how  to  make. 
How  fascinating  they  were!  I  wanted  a  trunkful  for 
ourselves  and  a  piece  to  send  to  each  of  our  friends.  My 
husband  reminded  me  that  more  than  fifteen  hundred 
miles  of  our  journey  still  lay  before  us.  I  remembered 
the  bad  antics  of  "  America  Maru,"  and  judged  that 
the  dainty,  fragile  things  would  be  shattered  to  crumbles 
before  we  reached  our  destination. 

Here,  also,  were  the  choicest  and  rarest  of  old  Sat- 
suma  vases,  rich  in  the  blended  glory  of  red  and  gold, 
decorated  with  handpainting  so  delicate  one  must  look 
at  it  through  a  magnifying  glass  to  discover  its  real 
beauty.  That  is  the  way  they  were  painted,  the  shop- 
keepers told  us,  —  by  the  hands  of  skilled  artists  work- 
ing under  magnifying  glasses.  More  than  before  we 
wished  for  ourselves  and  thought  of  our  friends;  but 
when  the  prices  were  named,  we  stopped  wishing,  though 
we  prized  them  more. 

But  tea  sets  and  Satsuma  vases  were  not  the  only 
interesting  things  to  be  seen  in  Kobe.  The  Japanese 
people  themselves  are  far  more  interesting  than  all  the 
beautiful  and  wonderful  things  they  are  able  to  make. 
This  was  the  first  time  we  had  seen  the  Japanese  at 
home  in  their  own  land.  Men  went  about  the  streets 
engaged  in  business  or  bent  on  pleasure,  bareheaded 
and  clothed  in  garments  that  looked  more  like  a  West- 
ern man's  bath  robe  than  like  a  business  suit.  The 
women  wore  kimonos  witl^ sleeves  wide  at  the  bottom. 
3 


34  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

This  long,  loose  garment  is  cut  so  narrow  in  the 
skirt  as  to  compel  the  wearer  to  walk  with  very  short 
steps.  A  girdle  confines  the  kimono  loosely  at  the 
waist,  and  to  this  girdle  a  square  cushion  is  attached 
at  the  middle  of  the  back. 

All  the  women  wore  their  black  hair  rolled  away  from 
the  face  in  a  stiff  pompadour  and  done  up  in  the 
smoothest  possible  manner  in  the  back.  On  the  street 
they  wore  white  stockings  and  wooden  shoes  that  clacked 
at  the  heel  with  each  step  on  the  pavement.  Boys  ap- 
peared to  dress  like  their  fathers,  and  girls  to  follow 
the  older  women's  styles. 

All  wooden  shoes  were  left  outside  the  doors  of  shops 
and  dwellings  when  the  wearer  went  in,  and  soft  woven 
rush  slippers  put  on.  These  slippers  are  always  set  in 
a  row  inside  the  door,  awaiting  the  arrival  of  inmates 
or  guests. 

We  liked  what  we  saw  of  Japan  and  her  people,  and 
could  have  been  content  to  stay  here  and  work  for 
these  people,  but  that  our  hearts  were  set  toward 
China,  where  the  need  for  missionaries  was  surely 
just  as  great. 

Another  week  at  sea  brought  us  to  Hongkong  (a 
Chinese  name  meaning  "  fragrant  harbors  ") ,  Feb.  2,  1902. 
The  city  of  Victoria  lay  along  the  water's  edge,  and 
spread  over  the  mountain's  side  to  its  very  summit. 
"  This  is  considered  one  of  the  most  beautiful  cities 
on  this  half  of  the  globe,"  declared  a  passenger  who 
had  traveled  a  great  deal  in  the  East.  We  had  not 
seen  much  of  "  this  half  of  the  globe,"  but  we  were 
quite  willing  to  believe  what  he  said,  for  this  city  was 
to  be  our  home  for  the  present.  Before  we  left  America 
we  had  been  advised  to  stop  in  Hongkong  for  a  time,  and 


The   Voyage  to   China 


35 


from    there    move    into    China    itself    when    the    Boxer 
troubles   should    be   settled. 

Let  others  wish  for  "  a  home  on  the  rolling  deep," 
if  they  will.  A  month  of  it  was  long  enough  at  one 
time  for  us.  We  had  become  so  accustomed  to  the  motion 
of  the  boat  that  it  was  really  awkward  walking  on 
solid  earth  again.  But  we  were  glad  the  voyage  was  at 
an  end,  and  more  than  satisfied  that  it. had  ended  here. 
When  we  decided  to  come  to  China,  we  had  supposed 
we  should  leave  all  comforts  behind  and  live  perhaps 
in  native  mud  houses.  We  were  delightfully  surprised 
to  find  this  beautiful,  clean  city,  inviting  us  to  make 
it  our  home. 


STKAMSIIIP    "  (  IIIX  V  " 

On  this  ship  many  missionaries  have 
sailed  from  the  Pacific  Coast  for  the  Far 
East. 


CHINESE   JUNK    UNDER    FULL    SAIL 


GETTING  USED  TO  STRANGE  METHODS 
OF   TRAVEL 

MANY  strange  things  we  find  in  this  land  of  the 
Far  East.  Perhaps  one  of  the  most  trying  to  get 
used  to  is  the  slow  ways  of  traveling.  So  long  as  we 
keep  near  the  shore  of  Old  Pacific,  everything  goes 
well;  but  when  we  are  obliged  to  travel  by  land, 
traveling   becomes   slow. 

Ocean  steamers  fairly  swarm  along  the  coast  line. 
No  less  than  four  or  five  large  steamship  companies 
operate  lines  of  transportation  between  England,  France, 
and  Germany  at  one  end  and  Japan  at  the  other.  There 
are  also  several  lines  operating  between  America  and 
these  ports.  Except  for  the  nuisance  of  seasickness, 
one  may  be  as  comfortable  these  days  on  shipboard  as 
in  his  own  home. 

Besides  these  long  lines  of  steamships  which  keep  to 
the  open  sea,  there  are  European,  Chinese,  and  Japanese 
companies  operating  lines  of  smaller  steamers  which  run 
nearer  shore  and  stop  at  all  coast  cities  of  importance. 
Of  course  it  is  liable  to  be  foggy  along  the  coast,  and 
the  sea  is  rougher  where  the  water  is  more  shallow 
and  broken  by  small  islands  and  rocks,  as  it  is  quite 
certain  to  be  near  shore.  Being  smaller,  these  coast 
steamers  are  not  so  smooth  going  or  so  fast  sailing  as 
the  ocean  liners;  but  the  traveler  has  no  good  reason 
for  complaint  against  these  boats  either.  They  are 
comfortable  and  make  good  time. 

The  same  is  true,  also,  when  traveling  inland.  So 
long  as  one  can  follow  China's  big  rivers,  he  may 
count  himself  fortunate.  A  glance  at  a  map  shows 
four    river   systems    rising   in   the   west   and    flowing   to 

37 


38 


A*Chu  and  Other  Stories 


the  sea,  within  the  territory  of  China  Proper.  All  these 
large  rivers  and  some  of  their  branches  are  navigable 
for  light  steamers  a  considerable  part  of  their  course. 
It  may  readily  be  seen  that  these  waterways  form  the 
natural  means  of  communication  over  a  large  part  of 
the  most  thickly  populated  districts  of  China.  The 
Chinese  are  great  canal  builders,  and  to  the  abundant 


PEARL   RB-EE   AND    SHIPPING    AT    CHANGSHA 


natural  watercourses  they  have  added  these  artificial 
streams,  which  in  some  sections  cross  their  country  as 
frequently  as  public  highways  cross  the  prairies  of  our 
Middle  West.  These  canals  supply  means  of  trans- 
portation to  thousands  upon  thousands  of  small  boats 
through   country,   cities,   and   villages. 

Passengers  and  freight  brought  out  from  Europe  by 
the  great  ocean  liners  or  picked  up  along  their  routes 
by  the  coast  steamers,  are  transferred  to  lighter  steam- 
ers and  native  sailing  junks,  which  follow  these  great 
rivers  and  their  branches  as  far  as  they  are  navigable. 


Strange  Methods  of  Travel  39 

After  that,  still  smaller  boats  push  on  with  their 
cargoes,  both  freight  and  passengers,  so  long  as  there 
is   water    enough    to   float    these   craft. 

What  the  Europeans  call  "  rice-power "  boats  can 
travel  in  more  shallow  water  than  a  river  launch  draws. 
These  boats  also  do  a  big  business,  for  the  traveler  in 


BICE  POWER 


There  is  a  house-boat  alongside,  and  a  dragon  boat  in  the 
distance. 

the  interior  of  China  is  always  anxious  to  get  on  his 
way  as  far  as  possible  before  being  obliged  to  take  either 
to   the  house-boat  or   a   footpath. 

What   are    "  rice-power  "    boats  ? 

They  are  low-roofed,  broad,  flat-bottomed  boats  pro- 
pelled by  a  paddle  wheel  at  the  stern.  This  wheel  is 
turned  by  the  tread  of  coolies'  feet.  The  men  are  fed 
on  rice.  Do  you  see  where  the  power  comes  from? 
Their  speed  depends  on  the  number  of  men  who  tread 
at  the   wheel   and   the  strength   of   the  current   against 


40  J'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

which  it  drives.  It  may  well  be  imagined  that  the 
rice-power  boat  never  gets  up  a  speed  equal  to  that  of 
the  ocean  liner. 

One  of  these  boats  seemed  very  slow  to  me  when  I 
started  one  morning  with  my  sick  child  to  go  sixty 
miles  to  see  a  doctor.  Part  of  the  way  we  were  towed 
by  a  steam  launch,  but  it  was  sundown  when  we 
reached    our    destination. 

The  slowest  part  of  the  journey  is  in  getting  started. 
You  ask  the  officer  of  a  rice-power  boat,  "  Do  you  go 
to   today? " 

"  Yes,"    he    replies. 

"When   do   you   start?  " 

"Not    can    tell." 

"Who   can   tell   me   when   you    will    go?" 

"No    one." 

"  How   shall    I    know   when    to    get   on    board  ?  " 

"  Get  on  board  now.  When  the  boat  has  enough 
passengers  to  pay  expense  of  trip,  we  will  start.  Not 
can  lose  capital." 

Sometimes  one  of  these  native  passenger  boats  will 
lie  at  the  wharf  with  the  low  saloon  half  full  of  pas- 
sengers sitting  on  the  floor  with  their  feet  curled  under 
them,  and  whistle  for  hours,  calling  for  more  pas- 
sengers. 

In  the  south  of  China  there  seems  no  limit  to  the 
number  of  house-boats  and  sampans  that  carry  on  traffic 
through  the  network  of  canals  and  small  streams  that 
spread  out  over  the  country  like  the  blood  capillaries 
in  a  living  body.  Sometimes  the  water  gets  very  low 
or  the  stream  becomes  so  narrow  that  there  is  not 
room  to  use  the  oars.  Then  the  boatman  —  quite  as 
often   it   is   a   woman  —  stands   in   the   stern    and   with 


Strange  Methods  of  Travel 


41 


a  long  pole  pushes  the  boat  forward.  The  Chinese  do 
not  count  time  of  much  value,  and  if  the  water  gets 
too  low,  the  boatman  will  thrust  the  long  pole  into 
the  mud,  tie  up  his  boat  to  the  pole,  and  sit  down  to 


A     CHINESE    WATER     WHEEL 


wait  for  rain  to  come  and  swell  the  stream  so  that  he 
can   finish   his  journey. 

In  bad  weather  the  house-boat  traveler  must  pull 
out  the  extension  roof  over  the  deck,  put  up  the  deck 
side  boards,  pull  down  the  side  curtains,  and  hive  him- 
self in  till  the  storm  is  over. 

This  waiting  for  the  weather  to  change  is  almost 
unendurable  to  one  who  is  accustomed  to  traveling  by 
fast  boats  and  railway  trains  that  run  on  schedule 
time. 


42  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

In  the  south  of  China,  when  one  gets  away  from  the 
watercourses,  he  must  either  travel  by  sedan  chair  or 
go  afoot.  The  sedan  chair  consists  of  a  comfortable 
seat  with  a  foot  rest,  closed  in  all  around  except  in 
front,  and  a  shelter  overhead.  The  seat  rests  on  two 
long  poles  ending  in  handles  both  in  front  and  at  rear. 


CHINESE    SEDAN    CHAIBS 

It  carries  but  one  passenger,  and  where  the  paths  are 
narrow,  as  they  always  are  in  the  country,  a  company 
of  travelers  must  go  single  file.  In  the  city,  where 
streets  are  wider,  companions  may  travel  side  by  side 
and  chat  as  they  ride.  The  sedan  chair  is  borne  by 
two  or  more  coolies  as  may  be  required.  It  is  a  very 
comfortable  and  pleasant  means  of  conveyance  when 
the  bearers  understand  their  business.  They  are  trained 
to  walk  very  rapidly   and   in   perfect   rhythm,    and   the 


Strange  Methods  of  Travel  43 

chair  swings  along  comfortably.  But  when  the  bearers 
do  not  know  how  to  carry  evenly  or  are  out  of  sorts, 
the  traveler  is  likely  to  go  up  and  down  like  the  dasher 
of  an  old-fashioned  churn. 

In  Shanghai  one  sees  passengers  trundled  through  the 
streets  on  large  wheelbarrows.  The  wheelbarrow  is 
used  to  a  considerable  extent  in  central  and  northern 
China;   so    also    are    donkey   carts. 

The  jinrikisha  is  used  in  cities  of  the  Far  East  along 
the  seacoast.  Look  up  this  word  in  the  dictionary. 
The  New  Webster  says  it  is  "  a  small  two-wheeled, 
hooded  vehicle,  drawn  by  one  or  more  men."  Jin- 
rikisha is  a  Japanese  word  meaning,  "  jin,  man ;  rikij 
power;  shdj  carriage."  This  definition  describes  the 
vehicles  used  here,  except  that  I  have  never  seen 
two  men  pulling  a  jinrikisha.  It  is  not  uncommon  to 
see  one  man  pulling  the  vehicle  and  another  man  be- 
hind pushing  it.  A  few  jinrikishas  are  built  wider,  and 
carry  two  passengers. 

At  first  this  appeared  to  me  a  very  odd  way  of 
traveling.  Can  you  imagine  yourself  seated  in  a  car- 
riage drawn  by  a  man  pulling  between  the  thills  as 
you  have  been  used  to  seeing  horses  pull?  To  be  sure, 
the  man  is  not  harnessed  so  that  he  cannot  get  away, 
and  you  do  not  drive  with  bit  and  rein,  but  he  uses 
his  human  strength   to  pull  while  you   sit  and   ride. 

The  first  time  I  rode  in  one  of  these  "  man-power  " 
carriages  was  in  Japan.  A  company  of  us  from  the 
"  America  Maru  "  were  going  to  see  the  sights.  Every 
one  else,  by  turns,  got  into  a  jinrikisha,  and  at  last  I 
took  one.  The  ricksha  man  started.  How  he  ran!  fol- 
lowing the  others  down  the  principal  street,  in  full 
view   of   everybody,    the   passenger   in   the  seat   holding 


Strange  Methods  of  Travel 


45 


©   U.   &   U.,  N.  Y. 

JINRIKISHAS    WAITING   BEFORE    A   RICH    NATIVE    BAZAAR 
IN    SHANGHAI 


to  the  carriage  and  he  running  till  he  sweat  like  a 
man  making  hay  in  the  summer  time.  I  had  not  told 
him  to  run,  and  I  could  not  tell  him  to  stop. 

I  thought  of  those  words,  who  "  hath  made  of  one 
blood  all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face 
of  the  earth,"  and  my  conscience  did  not  feel'  at  all 
easy.     The  ricksha   men,   however,   took   the  matter   in 


46  A'Chu  and   Other  Stories 

a  very  different  way.  Each  one  of  them  seemed  very 
desirous  of  getting  a  passenger,  and  quite  as  much 
pleased  with  the  silver  coin  our  guide  gave  him  at  the 
end  of  the  trip. 

In  Hongkong  we  found  the  jinrikisha  the  usual  means 
of  conveyance  for  the  level  district.  The  sedan  chair 
is  commonly  used  for  the  hills,  though  with  a  man 
pushing  behind,  the  jinrikisha  may  make  a  considerable 
ascent.  The  jinrikisha  is  by  far  the  more  rapid,  for 
the  men  run  for  long  distances  without  stopping  to 
rest.  There  was  no  other  street  service  on  the  is- 
land at  the  time,  so  we  must  use  one  or  the  other,  or 
go  on  foot.  The  average  foreigner  cannot  endure  to 
walk  much  in  a  climate  so  warm  and  moist  as  that 
of  the  south  of  China.  He  must  learn  to  use  whatever 
means   of   travel    is   conveniently    at   hand. 

When  one  is  ready  to  go  shopping  or  calling,  he 
steps  into  the  street  and  beckons  the  jinrikisha  man 
much  as  you  might  signal  the  motorman  of  a  passing 
street  car.  If  several  men  have  seen  the  signal,  there 
will  be  a  scramble  among  them,  and  a  race  to  see 
which  can  get  to  the  passenger  first.  Usually  he  will 
employ  the  first  to  arrive,  but  he  may  select  the  coolie 
that  appears  the  freshest  and  most  nearly  equal  to  his 
requirements. 

The  jinrikisha  man  draws  up  his  vehicle  and  drops 
the  shafts  to  allow  his  passenger  to  step  in  and  seat 
himself.  He  always  carries  a  piece  of  slimpsy  cotton 
cloth  which  he  uses  as  a  towel  to  wipe  away  the 
moisture  after  his  run.  Lest  this  very  necessary  article 
be  lost  by  the  way,  he  wraps  it  firmly  around  the  end 
of  one  of  the  shafts  or  tucks  it  under  the  belt  that 
ponfines  his  loose  cotton  trousers  at  the  top.     He  gives 


Strange  Methods   of   Travel  47 

a  twitch  or  two  to  the  leather  belt  to  get  it  into 
place,  and  to  make  sure  it  will  hold  securely  for  the 
journey.  With  this  he  is  ready,  and  at  a  signal  from 
his  passenger  starts  ofE  with  a  few  long,  easy  paces, 
gradually  increasing  his  speed  to  a  brisk  trot,  which 
is  kept  up  throughout  the  trip. 

When  the  sun  is  hot,  the  ricksha  man  is  often  clad 
only  in  the  loose  trousers  and  leather  belt.  His  body 
is  exposed  to  the  wind  and  sun  till  it  looks  like  a 
statue  of  bronze.  If  the  sun  is  very  hot,  he  may  wear 
a  broad-brimmed  hat  with  a  quaintly  peaked  crown. 
On  really  rainy  days  he  comes  out  in  a  native  work- 
ingman's  raincoat. 

While  we  pity  these  jinrikisha  men,  we  realize  that 
they  must  do  hard  work.  They  have  no  other  way  of 
earning  a  living.  Though  they  get  very  tired  on  a 
long  run,  they  earn  much  more  money  than  the  men 
who  work  in  heated  engine-rooms  and  stuflFy  work- 
shops. Besides,  they  work  in  the  open  air  and  enjoy 
more  freedom.  When  one  is  too  tired  to  run,  he  may 
call  another  man  to  take  his  vehicle,  or  he  may  hide 
away  where  he  will  not  be  seen,  to  eat  and  rest. 

Gradually  I  have  become  used  to  this  means  of  travel, 
also,  and  have  come  to  count  the  jinrikisha  a  friend 
in    need. 


©  U.  &  U.,  N.  Y. 


HOUSE-BOATS 


They  are  often  packed  together  so  for  the  night,  or  for 
shelter  in  time  of  storm.  It  is  said  that  many  children, 
mostly  girls,  grow  up  without  ever  setting  foot  on  land. 
This  also  well  represents  the  way  these  boats  gather  about 
a    ship    on    its    arrival    in    port. 

4S 


BY   STEAMSHIP   AND   RAIL   TO 
CENTRAL   CHINA 

IN  the  winter  of  1905  I  went  with  my  husband  on 
a  visit  to  our  new  mission  stations  in  central  China. 
At  that  time  we  were  living  in  the  city  of  Canton, 
in  the  south  of  China.  A  straight  line  from  Canton 
to  the  farthest  station  would  run  almost  due  north  a 
distance  of  one  thousand  miles.  Such  a  journey  would 
have  required  but  two  days'  travel  by  a  **  through 
train,"  but  there  was  no  direct  road,  no  train  at  all, 
and  consequently  we  were  compelled  to  go  the  long 
way  round. 

The  greater  part  of  the  journey  was  made  by 
steamship.  A  river  steamer  left  Canton  in  the  eve- 
ning, and  dropped  quietly  down  with  the  tide  of  Pearl 
River  into  the  wide-spreading  delta  of  West  River. 
Frost  never  nips  the  green  of  the  many  fertile  islands 
in  this  great  river  delta.  Sweet  orange  trees  dotted 
the  hedges  of  dark-green  foliage  between  the  level  rice- 
fields,  and  golden  pomelos  swung  low  on  their  slen- 
der boughs.  Banana  trees  bowed  their  modest  heads, 
each  crowned  with  its  single  cluster  of  pale-yellow 
crescents. 

The  sampans  and  house-boats  had  snuggled  down 
side  by  side  in  their  night  quarters,  and  the  boat  peo- 
ple were  enjoying  their  evening  meal.  Sailing  down- 
stream we  passed  quaint,  slow  junks  laden  to  the  wa- 
ter's edge  with  bags  of  new  rice  and  baskets  of  fresh 
fruit.  Although  the  last  inch  of  sail  was  out  and 
they  were  going  with  the  tide,  we  left  them  behind, 
rocking   in   the   furrows   of    our    wake. 

4  4? 


50  AXhu  and  Other  Stories 

ON   THE   OCEAN    LINER 

Early  morning  brought  us  to  Hongkong  in  time  to 
make  connection  with  the  great  ocean  steamer  lying 
in  its  harbor.  It  was  on  its  way  from  Bremen  in  the 
north  of  Germany  to  Japan.  Through  the  Mediter- 
ranean and  Red  Seas  it  had  come,  across  the  Indian 
Ocean,  up  the  coast  of  China  to  Hongkong.  Today 
it  would  sail  for  Shanghai,  and  from  there  to  Yoko- 
hama. Our  tickets  read,  "  From  Hongkong  to  Shang- 
hai,"  a  distance  of   800   miles. 

Traveling  by  one  of  these  ocean  steamers  is  a  com- 
fortable way  of  getting  over  long  distances.  When 
the  passenger  has  secured  his  ticket  and  moved  on 
board,  his  part  of  the  work  is  done.  There  is  nothing 
more  to  do  but  to  make  himself  at  home  and  enjoy 
the  pure   air,   fresh   with   salt-sea   spray. 

Breakfast  will  be  served  exactly  on  time.  At  ten 
o'clock  the  deck  steward  will  pass  hot  broth  and 
sandwiches  on  deck.  The  tiffin,  as  luncheon  is  called 
in  the  Far  East,  will  afford  a  variety  of  foods  in 
sufficient  quantity  to  satisfy  a  "  good  sailor's "  appe- 
tite. Tea  and  cakes  at  five,  with  a  substantial  dinner 
at  night,  finish  the  day's  round  of  "  eats." 

His  stateroom  will  be  taken  care  of.  His  berth  will 
be  smoothly  spread  with  the  blankets  turned  into  neat 
rolls  at  the  back.  His  shoes  will  be  whitened  or  black- 
ened as  they  require,  and  everything  will  be  kept  in 
perfect  order,  if  —  if  he  will  stay  out  after  the  cabin 
boy  has  made  his   rounds. 

The  one  drawback  to  ocean  travel  lies  just  here. 
When  the  ship  strikes  her  nose  into  a  high  wave, 
she  takes  it  unpleasantly  and  shivers  all  over.  If 
the  waves  keep   coming  and   the   boat  keeps  on   shiver- 


By  Steamship  and  Rail  51 

ing,  the  passenger  gets  creepy.  He,  too,  begins  to 
shiver  and  to  feel  ''  queer."  Next  he  is  off  for  his 
stateroom,  straight  into  the  tidy  berth.  No  promise 
of  grand  sights  at  sea,  no  sounding  of  the  dinner  gong, 
can  tempt  him  out  again.  He  doesn't  feel  like  — 
well,    like    anything    he    ever    felt    before. 

The  sea  was  not  boisterous  on  this  trip,  though  I 
think  it  is  never  really  smooth  going  north  through 
the  strait  of  Formosa  and  the  China  Sea.  The 
ship  seems  always  to  be  sailing  uphill  and  against 
the  waves.  Coming  back,  it  is  all  downhill.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  it  really  does  take  several  hours  longer 
to  make  the  trip  going  north  than  are  required  to 
return.  Being  somewhat  used  to  seagoing,  we  kept  on 
deck    and    enjoyed    the    voyage    throughout. 

IN  SHANGHAI    HARBOR 

Shanghai  is  a  great  center  of  commerce,  and  is  full 
of  interest  to  travelers  in  the  Far  East.  Lying  in  the 
harbor  of  Shanghai,  at  the  wide  mouth  of  the  Yangtse 
River,  may  be  seen  ships  of  many  sizes,  floating  the 
flags  of  all  civilized  nations.  See  them  coming  — 
launches,  lighters,  and  tugs!  They  are  heavily  loaded 
and  steam  about  busily.  Slow-going  junks  and  other 
native  craft,  also,  bring  out  from  the  city's  storehouses 
their  share  of  tea,  cotton,  raw  silk,  vegetable  oils,  goat 
pelts,  and  other  native  products.  These  are  loaded 
into  ships  to  be  carried  round  the  world.  Besides  these, 
many  manufactured  articles,  both  of  practical  use  and 
of    luxury,    are   sent    abroad. 

The  city  lies  on  the  Hwang-poo  River,  near  the  sea- 
coast,  and  not  far  from  the  mouth  of  the  Yangtse  River. 
This  river   (the  Yangtse)   affords  the  natural  means  of 


52 


A^Chu  and  Other  Stories 


transportation  to  the  sea  for  all  exports  of  the  vast 
fertile  valley  drained  by  its  branches.  When  China 
shall  have  been  supplied  with  railroads  so  that  her 
products  can  be  more  easily  sent  to  market,  the  already 
large  commerce   of   Shanghai   will  be   greatly  increased. 


Photo,  u.  &  u..  N.  Y. 

queen's  road,  shanghai 


"  This  Shanghai  b'long  all-same  New  Yawk,"  boasted 
a  merchant  on  board  the  tender  which  carried  us  from 
the  vessel  lying  at  anchor  in  the  harbor  to  the  pas- 
senger wharf  in  the  city.  "  She  do  all-same  big  pidgin 
[big  business].     She  b'long  vely  lawg  [very  large]  city." 

This  merchant  had  done  business  in  New  York  a 
number  of  years.     In  fact,  he  had  learned  his  English 


By  Steamship  and  Rail 


53 


there,  but  to  the  very  end  of  his  days  a  Cantonese 
never  can  learn  to  twist  his  tongue  around  our  "  r." 
He  either  drops  it  altogether  or  puts  the  sound  of  "  1  " 
in   its  place. 

FROM    SHANGHAI   TO    HANKOW 

At  Shanghai   we  changed   to   a  smaller   steamer,   and 
rode   600   miles   up    the   Yangtse   Kiang    (''  Son   of   the 


*^^ 

M                                                    ."^l^i^    1  niTfclP liflililif Ji'TK iT '   "  1  IJIMTiO  1 

A    STKEtT    CAR    IN    SHANGHAI 


Ocean  ")  to  Hankow.  Up  to  this  point  we  had  trav- 
eled 1,400  miles  by  ship,  and  were  now  a  little  more 
than  half  that  distance  in  a  straight  line  across  country 
from   where   we   had   started. 

On  the  way  from  Shanghai  to  Hankow  we  stopped 
at  Wu-hu  to  let  off  cargo.  A  mass  of  small  boats 
filled  with  beggars  calling  piteously  for  gifts,  swarmed 
about  the  steamer.  Their  clothing  was  tattered ;  their 
hair  hung  in  matted  lumps;  their  faces  and  hands  ap- 


54 


A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 


peared  not  to  have  been  washed  in  a  lifetime.  Their 
clothing,  such  as  it  was,  was  sufficient  so  that  no  one 
looked  very  cold.  The  faces  of  the  children,  though 
smeared  and  dirty,  were  plump  and  ruddy.  The  sight 
of  them  brought  to  my  recollection  a  sentence  from  a 
lesson  on  beggars  in  our  language  primer:  "  If  he  really 
were  as  poor  as  he  seems,  would  he  be  as  fat  as  he  is?  " 


■■^ 

^^/  ^^^II^M 

ftb^Ji 

WBH 

^B^ 

^^C^ 

^t^ 

^Kl 

yk 

^ 

I'M 

™jiJS9i 

fllHIJlfl 

i     ' 

^- 

^^^^^pip 

1    ^ 

HBUHHEfeb^M 

A 

BEGGARS      HUTS 

There  are  thousands  of  these  huts  in  Hankow. 


I  decided  then  that  the  small  charities  I  could  afford 
should  be  spent  on  persons  I  knew  to  be  poor,  not  on 
swarms  of  beggars. 

Hankow  lies  less  than  800  miles  directly  north  of 
Canton.  This  city  is  a  great  business  center  located 
in  the  heart  of  China.  If  Shanghai  may  be  compared 
to  New  York  on  our  eastern  coast,  Hankow  may  be 
compared  to  Chicago  at  the  center  of  the  country. 

At  Hankow  we  went  immediately  to  the  United 
States  consul  to  register  our  passports  for  permission  to 
travel    in    these   interior   parts    of    China.      The   consul 


By  Steamship  and  Rail  55 

wrote  down  a  description  of  each  of  us  as  to  height, 
complexion,  color  of  eyes,  hair,  etc.  In  case  we  did 
not  return  as  expected,  he  would  know  whom  to  look 
for,  where  to  look  for  us,  and  just  which  of  the 
Chinese  officials  was  responsible  for  our  safety.  It 
is  very  comforting,  when  in  a  strange  land,  to  know 
that  one's  own  native  country  is  looking  out  for  his 
safety  wherever  he  may   be. 

TRANSPORTING  FREIGHT 

At  the  consul's  was  a  letter  for  us  from  Dr. 
H.  W.  Miller.  A  shipment  of  goods  ordered  from  the 
United  States  had  been  landed  in  Hankow,  and  was 
waiting  at  the  wharf.  Dr.  Maude  Miller,  his  wife, 
had  been  too  ill  to  be  left  alone  while  he  should 
go  for  them.  They  were  much  in  need  of  the  foods 
included  in  the  lot,  and  especially  of  the  heating  stove. 
His  Chinese  helper,  whose  name  I  choose  to  forget 
rather  than  try  to  spell,  would  meet  us,  the  letter 
said,  at  Sin-yang,  about  halfway,  and  assist  us  the  rest 
of  the  journey. 

By  quick  work  my  husband  got  the  goods  released 
from  the  steamship  company's  docks,  and  a  number 
of  coolies  with  ropes,  poles,  and  carts  transferred  them 
across  to  the  railroad  depot,  a  mile  or  more  away. 
The  car  in  which  he  was  directed  to  place  the  goods 
was   nothing   more   than    an   open    box    on    flat   trucks. 

"Will  they  be  safe  there  through  the  night?  What 
if  it  should  rain?"  he  queried. 

The  agent  said  their  watchman  would  be  on  guard 
while  the  car  stood  at  the  station;  after  that  it  would  be 
our  business  to  see  that  the  goods  got  to  their  destination 
safely.     The  company  merely  undertook  to  carry  them. 


56  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

The  safest  way,  he  explained,  would  be  for  the  owner 
to  ride  in  the  freight  car  and  look  after  the  boxes 
himself.  Then,  noticing  that  one  half  of  our  party 
was  a  woman,  he  suggested  that  we  hire  a  cheap  man 
to  ride  with  the  boxes.  In  that  case  we  would  be 
expected  to  pay  the  watchman's  fare  going  and  return- 
ing, to  supply  his  food,  lodging,  smoking  tobacco,  and 
wine  money,  as  well  as  to  pay  him  wages  for  the  five 
or  six  days  he  might  choose  to  spend  on  the  road.  We 
began  to  feel  that  shipping  freight  was  expensive  busi- 
ness. Just  then  an  American  passing  that  way  stopped 
to    inquire    into    our   perplexity. 

"  It's  easy  enough,  and  not  so  bad  when  you  get 
used  to  it,"  he  said.  "  Make  yourselves  comfortable  in 
the  passenger  coach.  It  will  be  a  part  of  this  same 
train.  When  it  stops,  jump  off,  run  ahead  to  the 
freight,  and  count  your  boxes.  When  the  conductor 
blows  his  whistle,  get  back  to  your  coach.  Only  be  sure 
you  have  the  full  number  of  boxes  at  every  station, 
and  things  will  be  safe  enough." 

"  But  there  is  no  roof  on  the  car.  What  if  it  rains?  " 
"  There  you  must  take  chances.  If  things  get  wet, 
that's  your  bad  luck  on  this  road,"  he  replied  rather 
carelessly,  we  thought,  just  as  if  he  had  not  the 
least  idea  of  how  necessary  those  fresh  cereals,  canned 
vegetables  and  milk,  and  dried  fruits  were  to  our 
missionaries  living  far  away  from  the  markets.  He 
did  not  guess  how  eagerly  they  had  been  looking 
forward  to  the  coming  of  those  larger  boxes,  packed 
with  warm  clothing  and  other  winter  comforts  for 
the  workers  at  all  the  four  stations.  What  a  pity  it 
would  be  to  have  the  new  heating  stove  red  with  rust 
when   it   arrived ! 


By  Steamship  and  Rail 


57 


While  these  thoughts  were  passing  through  our 
minds,  the  American  was  looking  at  the  sky.  "  There 
won't    be    any    rain    tonight,"    he    said,    "  and    probably 


^'   ^                                  -  -: 

^^np^^^S^S 

L 

Mft 

WBtUM^tl^^^^K^SfSSI^         -*7'^?B?'%y^f^'  '^  ^^iIIHh^  si 

LITTLE    OBPHAN  " 

A  rocky  island  in  the  Yangtse  River,  with  a  native 
monastery  and  home  of  monks  and  priests. 

not   for   two   or   three   days,    anyway."     With    this   as- 
surance   he    passed    on. 

A    MIXED    TRAIN 

Next  morning  the  mixed  train  of  freight  cars  and 
passenger  coaches  was  ready  to  start  north  at  eight 
o'clock.  Two  or  three  stocky  Europeans  walked  about 
giving    orders.      These    were    Belgians,    I    understood, 


58  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

for  the  road  was  owned  and  operated  by  Belgians. 
The  work  was  done  by  Chinese,  who  appeared  to  be 
afraid  of  the  puffing  engine  and  clanking  wheels. 
They  were  not  quite  sure  whether  they  were  run- 
ning the  train  or  whether  the  monster  might  not  break 
loose   and   run   them. 

I  had  never  seen  just  such  a  train.  First  came 
the  engine,  with  its  cloud  of  black  smoke.  The 
open  freight  cars  followed,  and  after  them  came 
the  third-class  passenger  cars.  These  were  like  the 
freight  cars,  except  that  their  walls  were  not  so 
high.  The  passengers  sat  on  the  floor  of  the  car, 
with  their  luggage  stacked  around  them.  Even  the 
shortest  of  them  was  not  shut  off  from  the  sights, 
for  he  could  easily  look  over  the  top.  The  second- 
class  coaches  came  next.  These  were  divided  into 
small  compartments,  and  each  room  was  furnished 
with  two  wooden  seats  facing  each  other  from  front 
and  rear.  The  seats  were  straight  and  stiff,  but  wide 
enough  for  the  passenger  to  sit  or  lie  as  he  chose. 
A  window  at  one  end  of  each  seat  opened  to  the 
fresh  air,  and  an  ample  rack  overhead  provided  for 
the  baggage.  The  first-class  saloon  was  in  the  rear 
of  our  coach,  but  a  corridor  along  the  side  of  the 
compartments  was  shut  off  at  that  point  by  a  door. 
By  this  means  the  beautiful  select  drawing-room,  with 
its  crimson  plush  cushions  and  silken  curtains,  was 
completely  closed  against  the  gaze  of  other  passengers. 
Our  compartment  being  next  to  the  first  class,  we  were 
very  glad  for  that  door,  because  the  saloon  was  oc- 
cupied by  a  party  of  wealthy  Chinese.  The  fumes  of 
their  various  kinds  of  smokes  would  have  been  very  un- 
pleasant had  we  not  been  careful  to  keep  the  door  closed. 


By  Steamship  and  Rail 


59 


The  train  jogged  leisurely  through  country  broken 
by  hills  and  dotted  with  villages.  It  stopped  only 
at  the  larger  towns,  but  made  long  stays.  The  pas- 
sengers —  that  is,  the  men  and  boys  —  usually  got 
off  to  see  the  town,  and  the  townspeople  came  out  to 
have  a  look  at  the  passengers.  In  getting  started 
again,  the  engine  coughed,  the  conductor  blew  a  shrill 
whistle,  and  the  passengers  scrambled  on,  alarmed  at 
the  thought  of  almost  having  been  left.  Trainmen 
rushed  back  and  forth  giving  orders  and  obeying 
orders,  and  at  the  last  moment  sprang  aboard  as 
though  in  fright  of  the  moving  monster.  Evidently 
railroad   trains   were   a   new   thing.      The   adventure   of 


TRAIN   FROM   HANKOW   TO   PEKING 


60  A'Chu  and   Other  Stories 

stopping   at   a   station   and   starting   occurred    each    time 
with    the    same    show    of    excitement. 

The  instructions  of  our  American  in  Hankow  were 
closely  followed.  When  the  train  stopped,  my  hus- 
band ran  down  the  track  to  the  freight  car,  climbed 
in  and  counted  our  boxes.  Then  he  waited  on  guard 
till  the  conductor's  whistle  sounded  the  signal,  "  All 
aboard."  "  It's  not  so  bad  when  you  get  used  to 
it,"  the  American  had  said,  and  we  found  ourselves 
getting  used  to  it.  It  might  get  worse,  we  reflected, 
if  the  man  Dr.  Miller  had  sent  out  never  met  us 
at  all.  We  could  neither  speak  nor  understand  the 
language  of  this  part  of  China.  How  should  we  en- 
gage carts  and  get  ourselves  and  the  goods  in  our 
care  across  country  to  the  mission  station  if  he  were 
not  with  us?  Remembering  the  saying,  "  Never  trouble 
trouble  till  trouble  troubles  you,"  we  put  this  question 
out  of  mind. 

A    NIGHT    IN    A    STRANGE    PLACE 

Just  before  sunset  our  train  pulled  into  the  good- 
sized  city  of  Sin-yang-chow.  Some  years  before  we  had 
visited  a  mission  station  in  San-li-tien,  only  a  mile  from 
this  city.  But  the  mission  had  been  moved  away, 
and  most  of  the  Christians  had  followed  it  to  another 
city.  We  had  been  riding  since  eight  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  had  traveled  a  distance  of  about  130 
miles.  That  was  by  no  means  rapid  railroad  travel, 
but  we  reckoned  that  at  this  rate  we  should  reach  our 
rail  destination  early  next  morning.  Imagine  our  sur- 
prise on  learning  we  should  not  even  start  again  till 
the  next  morning.  Trains  did  not  run  after  dark. 
Lodging  for  the  night  must  be  sought  in  a  Chinese  inn. 


By  Steamship  and  Rail  61 

We  had  never  seen  the  helper  supposed  to  be  wait- 
ing for  us  here,  and  had  arrived  several  days  later 
than  was  expected.  However,  as  the  train  stopped 
and  we  stepped  out,  two  men  came  toward  us.  One 
was  young  and  tall  and  slim,  the  other  was  older, 
shorter,  and  fatter.  Both  were  smiling  broadly.  The 
older  man  greeted  my  husband  as  "  Teacher,"  and 
we  at  once  recognized  him  to  be  one  of  the  Chris- 
tians we  had  met  on  our  former  visit  to  this  mission. 
This  Christian  brother  had  remained  in  the  city 
three  days,  leaving  his  business  to  look  after  itself, 
while  he  waited  here  to  make  sure  that  the  young 
man  should  find  us.  During  that  time  they  had 
met  every  train  from  the  south,  and  searched  for  us 
among  the  passengers.  They  seemed  quite  as  pleased 
to    meet    us    as    we    were    to    find    them. 

Eight  o'clock  the  next  morning  found  us  again  on 
our  way.  This  time  the  helper  insisted  on  looking 
after  the  goods.  He  chose  to  ride  with  them  in  the 
freight  car.  We  made  fewer  stops  and  better  time 
this  second  day  over  the  level  country.  By  the 
middle  of  the  afternoon  we  reached  Shi-ping,  the  sta- 
tion where  we  were  to  leave  the  train,  and  our  goods 
and  boxes  were  unloaded  onto  the  platform  of  a 
little  gray  brick  depot  exactly  like  those  we  had  often 
seen    at   small    stations    in    our    home    country. 

UNFORESEEN    DIFFICULTIES 

Now  that  we  had  been  landed,  the  railroad  com- 
pany evidently  had  finished  with  us.  The  agent  shut 
the  depot  door  and  locked  it.  Before  we  realized 
what  was  happening,  he  had  jumped  onto  a  mule  cart 
and   was   being  driven   away   toward   the  village,   leay- 


By  Steamship  and  Rail  63 

ing  us  on  the  open  platform  in  the  midst  of  our  bag- 
gage and   freight. 

Our  young  Chinese  was  a  trusty  friend,  of  that 
we  felt  sure,  but  how  much  he  could  *'  do  things  "  we 
did  not  know.  We  tried  to  talk  to  him,  but  he  did 
not  understand  us.  He  tried  to  talk  to  us,  but  we 
did  not  understand  him.  He  came  close  to  my  hus- 
band's ear  and  talked  louder,  and  yet  we  did  not 
understand.  My  husband  pointed  to  the  luggage,  and 
whirling  his  hand  round  and  round  as  cart  wheels  go, 
motioned  rapidly  across  the  plain  in  the  direction  of 
the  mission.  He  laid  his  head  in  his  hand,  meaning 
that   we   must   hasten   to    get   to   the    mission   to   sleep. 

The  boy  was  bright,  and  he  understood,  but  shook 
his  head.  Pointing  toward  the  village,  he  put  his 
hand  under  his  head  —  we  must  sleep  there  that  night. 

Knowing  that  next  day  would  be  the  beginning  of 
the  Chinese  New  Year  feast,  we  feared  we  should 
not  be  able  to  hire  carts  and  drivers  for  the  trip. 
Pointing  to  the  hour  on  the  dial  of  his  watch,  my 
husband  marked  off  the  time  —  one,  two,  three,  four, 
five  hours  and  more  before  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening. 
The  mission  house  was  sixteen  miles  away.  With 
speed   the  carters   could   make   it   in   five   hours. 

The  boy  shook  his  head.  Pointing  to  the  sun,  he 
rapidly  dropped  his  hand  to  the  level  of  the  horizon 
—  it  would  soon  be  sundown,  and  darkness  would  end 
our    travel. 

This  dumb  conversation  had  occupied  but  a  few 
moments  of  time.  We  realized  that  we  must  depend 
on  our  Chinese  helper.  He  saw  that  we  had  sur- 
rendered, and  motioning  me  to  stay  with  the  stuff, 
he    drew    my    husband    by    the    sleeve    to    follow    him. 


64  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

"  He  knows  best  what  can  be  done.  We  must 
get  carts  and  haul  our  goods  to  shelter  for  the  night, 
at  least.  We'll  be  back  as  soon  as  possible,"  said  my 
husband,  and  the  two  men  struck  out  with  long 
strides  toward  the  village. 

Up  the  track  the  mixed  train  was  still  in  sight, 
moving  toward  the  north.  It  had  never  seemed  to 
go  so  swiftly  as  now  when  I  watched  it  from  my 
place  before  the  little  depot  on  the  great  rolling 
plains  of  central  China.  On  and  on  it  sped,  the 
track  growing  narrower  and  the  smoke  trailing  lower 
till  it  crawled  like  a  caterpillar  around  a  curve  and 
beyond  my  sight.  Far  to  the  southward  the  track 
gradually  faded  to  a  silver  thread  over  a  dark  streak 
of  earth,  and  beyond,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  see, 
stretched  the  unbroken  level  covered  with  winter's 
gray   green. 

The  village  was  a  mile  away.  The  houses  appeared 
all  of  one  color,  and  the  straw-thatched  roofs  an  even 
height.  It  looked  like  a  patch  of  clay  against  the 
horizon,  marked  off  at  the  top  by  a  line  of  straw. 
The  two  dark  figures  grew  smaller  and  smaller  till 
they  vanished,  merged  with  the  spot  of  yellowish  gray. 
I  heard  cocks  crowing  in  the  direction  of  other  gray 
patches  on  the  landscape.  From  above  came  the  soft 
soughing  of   the   wind   on   the   long  wires   overhead. 


WITH   MULE   CARTS   AND   DRIVERS 

WHILE  waiting  for  the  carts  to  haul  our  bag- 
gage and  freight  to  shelter  for  the  night,  I  had 
time  to  think  over  our  trip  by  rail.  This  surely  was 
an  improvement  over  the  way  missionaries  used  to 
travel  in  China.  There  had  been  no  heat  for  warm- 
ing the  coaches,  but  by  exercising  briskly  at  times  and 
keeping  wrapped  up  the  rest  of  the  time,  we  had  been 
comfortably  warm.  We  had  ridden  200  miles  in  the 
two  days.  From  what  I  knew  of  wheelbarrows  and 
had  heard  of  mule  carts,  this  was  much  quicker 
time  than  we  could  have  made  the  trip  by  either  of 
these  older  methods. 

GETTING    TO    NIGHT    QUARTERS 

Toward  sunset  two  mule  carts  with  four  very  cross 
cart  drivers  pulled  up  beside  the  depot  platform.  A 
crack  of  the  driver's  whip  brought  the  wheel-mule 
to  a  quick  stop.  Just  how  did  he  know  the  lash 
intended  him  to  stop  rather  than  to  go  faster?  But 
he  did  know;  he  was  used  to  the  business.  He  plunged 
all  four  feet  into  the  earth  and  groaned  as  he  settled 
back  against  the  cart  with  unyielding  determination 
that  brought  the  four  careless  animals  in  lead  sud- 
denly down  upon  their  gambrels.  They  fretted,  but 
he  remained  quiet,  meek-eyed,  and  firm.  He  looked 
at  us  reproachfully,  as  if  he  understood  that  we  had 
violated  proper  custom  by  asking  for  carts  on  the 
eve  of  the  Chinese  New  Year.  Like  a  good  dis- 
ciple of  Confucius,  the  wise  old  wheel-mule  appar- 
ently meant  to  magnify  our  rudeness  by  bearing  it 
with  patience.  Or,  what  is  more  likely,  did  he  un- 
5  65 


66  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

derstand  the  harsh  words  of  the  drivers,  and  suspect 
that  for  slight  excuse  their  anger  at  us  would  be 
turned   in   revenge   upon  his   head? 

The  cart  drivers  were  not  in  a  working  mood. 
They  walked  around  the  pile,  pushed  the  boxes  about 
a  little,  and  talked  a  good  deal.  Finally  they  loaded 
onto  the  first  cart  enough  to  cover  its  bottom  and 
drove  out.  When  the  second  cart  had  taken  on,  in 
the  same  way,  what  it  chose  to  carry,  the  heap  on 
the  platform  looked  just  about  as  big  as  before. 
Their  actions  seemed  to  say,  If  we  are  compelled  to 
work  on  New  Year's  Eve,  you  must  pay  for  it.  The 
guide  motioned  us  to  get  in  and  ride  to  the  village, 
leaving  him  to  wait  for  further   loading  at  the  depot. 

The  carters  hopped  on  in  front,  one  at  each  side 
of  the  cart,  and  a  crack  of  the  long  whip  started  the 
team.  Each  animal  was  attached  separately  by  a 
rope  running  back  to  the  axle  of  the  cart.  Only 
the  wheel-mule  was  fastened  between  the  heavy  thills, 
and  he  alone  guided  the  cart.  The  road  seemed  to  lie 
an5rwhere  in  the  open  space,  and  each  animal  chose  for 
himself  where  he  would  walk  and  how  much  he  would 
pull.  Only  when  his  rope  slackened  too  much,  a  flour- 
ish of  the  big  whip  reminded  the  lagger  that  every 
cart   mule    is    expected    to    do    his   part. 

Over  hillocks  and  hummocks,  along  gutters,  through 
rows  of  ruts,  we  finally  arrived  before  the  village  gate. 
At  this  point  the  roadway  narrows  and  climbs  a  short 
but  very  steep  ascent  to  the  arched  gateway.  A  huge 
stone  lay  deeply  embedded  in  the  earth  across  the 
threshold.  This  stone  was  very  convenient  for  the 
two  wings  of  the  gate  to  rest  upon  when  closed. 
Besides,    it    completely    stopped    the    space    below    the 


fVith  Mule  Carts  and  Drivers 


67 


gate  so  that  no  wild  animal  or  mischievous  person  could 
crawl  in  under  it  at  night.  However,  the  stone  pro- 
jected a  full  half  foot  above  the  earth,  and  proved 
to  be  an  uncomfortable  spot  in  the  road.  The  drivers 
jumped  from  their  carts  and  lashed  the  team  into  a 
run  up  the  steep.  Urged  by  another  cut,  the  mules 
sprang    forward    and    jerked    the    cart    to    the    top    of 


MULE  CART  BEFORE  THE  MISSION  HOUSE  IX  SHAXGTSAI 

The  usual  means  of  travel  in  central  China. 

the  great  stone.  It  balanced  for  an  instant,  then 
dropped  down  on  the  other  side.  The  wheel-mule 
groaned  with  the  shock  to  his  spine.  So  did  we. 
It  was  almost  nine  o'clock  before  the  last  cartload 
had  come  up  the  steep,  over  the  stone  threshold,  and 
into  the  court  of  the  village  inn. 

AT   THE  INN 

The   innkeeper   had    agreed   to   allow   us   a   room   to 
ourselves  on  condition  that  we  pay   a  few  cents  more 


68  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

than  the  usual  price  for  our  lodging.  We  con- 
sented, though  we  guessed  it  was  quite  unnecessary, 
since  none  of  the  other  guests  would  be  willing  to 
share    a    room    with    the    queer    foreigners. 

The  room  contained  two  stools,  two  beds  without 
mattress  or  bedding,  and  a  small  table  on  which  the 
lamp  was  placed.  This  lamp  was  an  earthen  dish 
containing  oil  and  the  tiny  round  pith  of  a  plant  stalk 
for  a  wick.  Several  times  after  it  was  lighted  some 
member  of  the  family  came  in  to  snuff  the  wick  and 
to  lift  its  tip  higher  on  the  rim  of  the  dish,  so  it 
would  burn  more  brightly.  Several  times  a  few 
drops  of  oil  were  poured  into  the  lamp  from  the 
cruse  beside  it  on  the  table.  Each  time  the  attendant 
came  in,  he  managed  to  leave  the  door  ajar  wide 
enough  to  afford  the  other  guests  a  peep  at  the  strange 
foreigners. 

GETTING    AN    EARLY    START 

When  everything  was  ready  for  the  night,  we  sat 
down  to  counsel  in  writing  with  our  guide.  We  could 
not  understand  his  speech,  but  though  pronounced 
differently  the  written  characters  meant  the  same  to 
both. 

It  had  required  five  hours  to  get  from  the  depot  into 
shelter  for  the  night.  At  this  rate  it  would  be  neces- 
sary to  have  well-made  plans  if  we  were  to  reach 
our  destination  the  next  day.  No  matter  how  ob- 
stinately Chinese  cart  drivers  may  refuse  to  travel 
after  dark  in  the  evening,  they  are  usually  quite 
willing  to  begin  a  journey  before  daylight  in  the 
morning.  The  guide  agreed  that  we  should  start 
as    early    as    possible. 


JVith  Mule  Carts  and  Drivers  69 

As  he  had  no  timepiece,  it  was  left  with  us  to 
set  the  time  for  rising  and  to  call  him  at  that  hour. 
No  alarm  clock  was  to  be  had  at  the  inn.  It  was 
already  late  and  we  were  tired.  What  if  we  should 
not  waken  early?  The  tiny  pith  lamp  did  not  hold 
enough  oil  to  burn  all  night.  Indeed,  the  quantity 
of  oil  allotted  to  us  was  already  nearly  gone.  There 
would  be  little  enough  for  use  in  the  morning.  The 
few  matches  we  carried  must  be  used  carefully,  or  there 
would  be  none  when  time  came  to  light  the  lamp. 
But  all  this  worry  proved  useless,  for  at  one  o'clock  we 
were  wakened  by  the  loud  crowing  of  a  cock  in  the 
next  room.  Regularly  every  hour  afterward  he  roused 
up,  sounded  a  gentle  alarm,  and  settled  down  again 
to  sleep.  Shortly  before  daylight  he  began  to  crow  in 
real  earnest,  and  refused  to  be  silent  till  he  was 
put  out  of  doors.  It  seemed  that  another  guest  at 
the  inn  had,  like  ourselves,  been  anxious  to  get  off 
cj^rly,  so  had  caged  this  cock  under  his  bed  to  waken 
him  by  crowing. 

Although  we  had  risen  early  and  eaten  breakfast 
at  peep  of  day,  we  were  disappointed  that  morning 
in  getting  off  early.  We  had  waited  till  long  after 
the  time  the  drivers  had  agreed  to  start,  when  one 
of  their  number  came  around  to  explain  —  well,  to 
explain  that  his  partners  were  sick  and  could  not  go 
that  day.  Our  guide  went  with  him  to  inquire  into 
the  matter. 

On  the  face  of  it  there  was  nothing  at  all  the 
matter  with  them.  There  was  no  excuse  for  their  not 
going  except,  as  we  suspected,  the  day  being  their 
New  Year,  the  men  were  bent  on  staying  at  home  to 
celebrate   the    great    national    holiday    and    feast. 


70  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

Under  ordinary  circumstances  we  should  have  felt 
it  our  duty  to  respect  their  custom,  but  this  was  an 
exceptional  case.  It  was  very  necessary  that  we  reach 
the    mission    station    that    night. 

Our  guide  coaxed  and  bantered,  but  the  carters 
would  not  move.  He  had  a  talk  with  the  chief  of 
the  drivers'  guild,  and  offered  an  extra  price  on  ac- 
count of  the  holiday  season.  The  chief  said  he  was 
sorry,  but  really  he  had  no  way  of  helping  us,  since 
his  carters  were  not  willing  to   go. 

There  was  one  more  way  to  try.  Again  the  men 
left  me  in  charge  of  the  goods  while  they  went  to 
the  yamen.  This  is  the  name  by  which  a  Chinese 
magistrate's  residence  for  his  term  of  office  is  called. 
They  had  decided  to  go  to  the  chief  officer  of  the 
village  to  ask  for  carts.  The  mandarin  very  kindly 
promised  to  supply  our  needs,  and  at  once  sent  a  runner 
with  orders  to  bring  carts  to  the  inn  and  see  us  safely 
on  our  journey. 

In  a  short  time  three  carts,  each  drawn  by  four 
or  five  mules  or  small  horses,  swung  into  the  court- 
yard of  the  inn.  The  haggle  about  who  should  take 
the  big  boxes  and  who  be  allowed  the  small  ones, 
began  again.  The  runner  was  finally  obliged  to  call 
another  larger  cart  drawn  by  more  and  heavier  ani- 
mals. The  carters  were  about  as  cross  and  noisy  as 
those  of  the  night  before.  In  fact,  they  acted  is  if 
they  might  be,  and  probably  were,  the  very  same  men. 

OVER   THE   ROAD    BY  MULE    CART 

Snow  had  fallen  the  night  before  and  now  covered 
the  slightly  frozen  ground.  We  had  hoped  that  by 
starting    early    we    might    cover    a    good    part    of    the 


Pfith  Mule  Carts  and  Drivers  71 

journey  while  the  roads  were  hard.  But  the  sun, 
which  came  up  beautifully  bright  and  warm  on  this 
first  day  of  the  Chinese  New  Year,  had  mounted  half- 
way up  the  heavens  before  our  carts  jolted  out  over 
the  stone  threshold.  The  snow  had  melted  and  the 
frost  thawed  from  the  ground  by  the  time  we  reached 
a  rise  of  ground  some  three  miles  from  the  village. 
The  wooden  cart  wheels  were  blocked  to  the  hub  with 
mud  between  the  spokes,  and  the  animals  pulling  in 
front  were  breathing  heavily.  Something  had  gone 
wrong  with  the  heavy  cart,  and  it  was  lagging  some 
distance  in  the  rear. 

Our  guide  was  traveling  with  this  cart,  and  we  did 
not  wish  to  get  separated  from  him.  My  husband 
signaled  his  driver  to  wait  while  he  ran  back  to  find 
out  what  might  be  causing  the  delay.  He  found  the 
carter  cross  —  that  was  where  the  whole  difficulty  lay. 
He  had  managed  his  team  badly  from  the  start,  and 
they  were  already  fretted  and  out  of  spirits.  That 
cart  would  be  obliged  to  take  the  journey  slowly  from 
now  on,  and  if  possible  overtake  us  at  a  village  about 
halfway,    where   we    were   to    stop    for    lunch. 

My  husband  had  been  assigned  a  seat  on  the  first 
cart  and  I  on  the  third.  From  his  high  seat  in  front 
he  had  been  able  to  keep  up  a  signal  communication 
with  the  guide  as  to  when  we  were  to  turn  to  right 
or  left,  go  faster  or  slower.  Now  we  must  go  on 
without  him,  and  leave  the  choosing  of  the  road  to 
drivers  with  whom  we  could  not  speak  and  who  were 
unable  to  read  the  written  characters  we  had  used  with 
our  guide.  To  add  to  this  discomforting  condition, 
the  drivers  were  still  out  of  sorts  at  being  obliged  to 
travel  on  that  day. 


72  A'Chu  and   Other  Stories 

The  carts  in  which  we  traveled  consisted  of  two 
wheels  joined  by  a  ponderous  axle  under  a  box  rest- 
ing directly  upon  the  hounds  without  a  hint  of  springs 
between.  The  thills  consisted  of  two  crude  shafts  joined 
at  the  rear  by  a- heavy  crossbeam.  This  was  bound  di- 
rectly to  the  axle.  The  whole  gearing  was  without 
spring  or  coupling  to  break  the  jar.  It  rose  over  ob- 
stacles and  fell  into  ruts  with  the  solid  jolt  of  a  single 
piece  of  wood.  The  large  freight  cart  at  the  rear  could 
boast  of  four  wheels,  and  was  guided  by  a  tongue  to 
which  was  attached   a  pair   of  wheel-mules. 

Passengers  usually  spread  mats,  or  if  on  a  long 
journey,  their  bedding,  on  the  bottom  of  the  cart,  to 
sit  on.  The  Asiatic's  supple  joints  suffer  no  incon- 
venience when  he  curls  up  his  legs  and  sits  on  his 
feet.  He  appears  to  be  perfectly  comfortable  any  length 
of  time  in  this  position.  Absolutely  no  seat  is  pro- 
vided in  these  carts.  The  bottom  always  tilts  from 
the  front  toward  the  rear.  One  must  sit  with  his 
feet  uphill  or  turn  about  and  ride  backward,  unless  he 
can  make  a  bundle  to  sit  on  or  has  brought  a  seat 
with  him.  A  seat  is  not  very  practical,  because  it  is 
liable  to  slide  about  with  the  jolting  of  the  cart. 
Perhaps,  as  one  missionary  said,  "  the  easiest  way  to 
sit  in   a  cart  is  to   lie  down." 

With  us  there  was  no  choice  as  to  how  we  should 
sit,  nor  where.  The  boxes  of  goods  we  were  carrying 
through  to  the  mission  were  piled  high  over  the  axle 
to  balance  the  load,  and  we  were  given  seats  on  large 
boxes  placed  at  the  very  front  as  a  balance  to  keep 
the  load  from  sliding  backward  in  the  cart.  Our 
weight  threw  the  balance  of  the  load  forward  onto 
the  thill  straps  passed  over  the  wheel-mule's  back. 


With  Mule  Carts  and  Drivers 


73 


"How  far  to  Shangtsai?"  my  husband  Inquired, 
motioning   In   the   direction   of    the    mission. 

"  Sixty  li  "  (about  twenty  miles),  sourly  returned  the 
driver. 

The  geographical  mile  is  equal  to  about  three 
Chinese  11.  Before  starting  we  had  been  told  the 
distance  was  about  sixteen  miles,  and  that  with  an 
early    start    our    carts    ought    to    reach    there    by    noon. 

A  glance  back  over  the  track  we  had  left  in  the 
soft  ground  helped  to  explain  this  difference  of  opinion. 
If  it  were  really  sixteen  miles  traveling  by  direct 
road  from  the  railroad  to  the  mission,  the  winding  way 
by  which  we  had 
come  would  cer- 
tainly double  that 
distance. 

On  leaving  the 
village  we  had  fol- 
lowed at  first  what 
seemed  to  be  a 
highway  leading 
out  between  the 
vegetable  gardens 
and  small  fields. 
Presently,  h  o  w- 
ever,  the  road 
passed  from  the 
hillside  Into  a  very 
narrow,  much 
worn  -  down  bed. 
It  is  not  the  cus- 
tom for  the  Chi- 
nese    government     boad  cut  deep  by  centuries  of  travel 


74  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

to  lay  out  its  roads  and  levy  taxes  to  keep  them  in  re- 
pair. Without  railroads  to  ^  carry  produce  to  distant 
markets,  most  of  what  is  raised  must  be  consumed  near 
where  it  is  grown. 

These  quiet  farmers  and  villagers  travel  very  little, 
and  roads  are  not  thought  of  as  very  important  to 
their  manner  of  living.  What  bridges  are  built  are 
made  at  the  expense  of  some  generous  inhabitant,  or 
by  one  who  has  done  a  wrong  in  getting  his  wealth, 
which  he  hopes  to  atone  for  by  giving  it  for  a  useful 
purpose.  Needed  repairs,  likewise,  are  made  by  any  man, 
either  by  one  so  old  that  he  cannot  labor  at  hard  work, 
or  by  one  who  has  a  few  leisure  hours  to  spend  in 
filling  the  deepest  ruts  or  cutting  a  drain  to  carry  off 
the  water.  The  streets  of  the  villages  are  cleaned 
(what  little  cleaning  there  is  done)  and  kept  up  in 
the   same   way. 

Quite  evidently  this  road  had  never  been  turnpiked. 
It  resembled  a  gutter  washed  by  the  rains  rather  than 
a  public  highway.  The  thawing  snow  had  run  down 
from  the  higher  ground  at  either  side,  and  filled  the 
hollows  and  ruts  with  soft  mud  and  water  that  hid 
them  from  sight.  In  this  condition  the  road  was 
positively   dangerous   as   we   were    loaded. 

After  counseling  among  themselves,  the  cart  drivers 
applied  the  lash  to  their  teams,  emphasizing  the 
stinging  cuts  with  more  threats,  and  so  forced  the 
mules  up  the  slope  to  the  higher  ground.  After  that 
the  carts  followed  the  highest  level,  winding  about 
through  grain  fields  or  wherever  it  might  lead.  Once 
in  a  while  we  struck  the  old-time  road,  especially  as  we 
neared  the  villages,  which  often  perch  on  a  side  hill 
at    the    edge    of    a    rolling   plain.      At    each    village  ■ — 


With  Mule  Carts  and  Drivers  75 

and  in  this  fertile  section  they  are  not  far  between 
—  the  drivers  stopped  for ,  a  drink  of  tea,  and  filled 
their    long    pipes    for    a    few    whiffs    of    smoke. 

There  was  no  sign  of  the  big  load  when  our  train 
of  carts  stopped  to  feed.  It  was  considerably  past  noon, 
and  we  had  not  yet  covered  half  the  journey.  But 
since  the  drivers  chose  to  stop  here  rather  than  where 
we  had  agreed  to  meet,  we  thought  best  not  to  op- 
pose their  choice.  All  the  time  we  were  hoping  that 
the  guide,  who  knew  the  country  well,  would  strike  a 
short  cut,   and  still  be  able  to  meet  us  at  that  point. 

The  going  was  better  just  now,  over  a  lighter  soil, 
and  we  yet  hoped  to  reach  the  mission  before  dark. 
My  husband  decided  to  lighten  the  load  by  walk- 
ing, and  the  drivers  followed  his  example.  The  teams 
were  double  the  strength  we  should  consider  neces- 
sary for  such  loads,  but  attached  as  they  were,  each 
animal  separately  and  guided  without  reins,  only  by 
the  long  whip,  one  pulling  this  way  and  another 
that  way,  much  of  their  effort  was  lost  because  they 
were    not    harnessed    to    pull    together. 

COMING   TO    AN   UNDERSTANDING   WITH   THE   CART    DRIVERS 

The  carters  had  again  taken  seats  on  their  carts 
and  were  urging  forward  their  teams.  My  husband 
was  growing  tired,  and  signaled  me  to  stop  the  cart. 
I  communicated  the  word  to  my  driver,  but  he  made 
a  sign  that  the  foreigner's  seat  was  with  the  front 
cart,   not   on   this   one. 

"  Call  him,  then,"  I  commanded  in  southern  Chinese 
dialect,  pointing  to  the  cart  ahead.  Fortunately  he 
understood  or  guessed  my  meaning,  and  sent  ahead  a 
call   to   the  driver   to   wait.      He   even   halted   his   team 


76  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

and  made  way  for  the  other  to  stop.  Instead,  the  leader 
replied  with  a  sally  that  set  the  others  chuckling,  and 
whipped  up  his  team.  They  followed  suit.  My  hus- 
band tried  to  run,  but  as  he  was  facing  the  wind, 
he  was  soon  out  of  breath  and  obliged  to  give  this 
up.  The  soil  was  sticky  clay.  His  feet  were  clogged 
with  rolls  of  the  soft  earth.  I  could  see  his  figure 
stooping  forward  and  swaying  with  the  effort.  Still 
the  distance  between  us  was  lengthening.  The  carts 
in  front  went  rollicking  forward  in  genuine  enjoy- 
ment of  our  dilemma. 

I  called  to  my  carter  to  halt,  but  he  pretended 
not  to  understand.  When  we  had  rounded  this  hill- 
top, I  should  be  out  of  sight  of  my  husband.  That 
he  could  not  keep  up  the  chase  much  longer  was 
quite  plain.  Even  as  we  crossed  wheatfields,  the 
green  tufts  sank  deep  into  the  soil  under  the  pressure 
of  his  mud-loaded  feet.  I  was  alarmed,  and  called  to 
the  driver  to  stop.  He  tried  to  look  blank,  pre- 
tending not  to  understand.  Pointing  at  him  with  one 
hand,  I  reached  the  other  threateningly  into  the  in- 
side pocket  of  my  traveling  cloak,  and  commanded, 
''Stop    now!" 

There  was  nothing  in  my  pocket  but  a  handker- 
chief and  a  long  menthol  inhaler  with  a  metal  nozzle. 
Maybe  it  looked  dangerous  in  the  hands  of  a  foreign 
woman;  at  any  rate  the  ruse  succeeded  and  the  cart 
came  to  a  standstill.  He  argued  with  words  and 
dumb  signs  that  the  other  carts  were  going  on.  I 
shook  my  head,   and   kept   the   inhaler   in  hand. 

By  the  time  my  husband  reached  the  cart  he  was 
completely  tired  out.  I  shifted  to  make  place  for 
him   on   my   seat.     The   driver   got   excited,  —  No,   no, 


IVith   Mule  Carts  and  Drivers  11 

he  must  not  get  on  there!  His  place  was  in  the 
forward  cart.  The  drivers  were  already  peeved,  and 
we  thought  best  to  humor  them.  They  were  not  hav- 
ing a  happy  New  Year,  and  plainly  did  not  intend 
making  one  for  us.  When  the  front  driver  saw  his 
passenger  coming  toward  him,  he  whipped  up  his 
mules    and    started    off    at    a    trot. 

My  husband  then  returned  to  the  rear  cart.  Here, 
too,  the  driver  refused  him  a  place,  and  raised  the 
butt  of  his  whipstalk  to  strike  when  the  tired  man 
attempted  to  spring  to  a  seat  on  the  moving  cart.  Not 
till  then  had  we  noticed  that  the  driver's  face  was 
flushed  and  his  eyes  strange.  Had  our  carters  been 
drinking  something  more  than  tea?  He  looked  like 
it.  It  would  be  foolish  to  turn  one's  back  on  a  man  in 
that    condition. 

Too  tired  to  walk  farther,  but  still  facing  the 
carter,  my  husband  sat  down  \n  the  driver's  own  seat 
on  the  thill.  This  brought  on  more  threats  with  the 
stocky  whip.  But  he  shook  his  head  firmly,  and  looked 
the  carter  steadily  in  the  eyes.  For  a  few  moments 
they  faced  each  other,  the  one  storming  with  anger, 
the    other    almost    exhausted    but    very    determined. 

The  driver  sat  down  in  the  wheatfield,  as  if  to  say, 
I  will  not  go  till  you  give  up  my  seat.  The  traveler 
sat  quietly,  as  if  to  reply,  When  you  get  me  my  right- 
ful place,  I  will  give  up  yours.  Finally  the  carter  gave 
in,  and  drove  his  vehicle  alongside  the  cart  in  front, 
and  the  traveler  climbed  to  his  seat. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  we  passed  below  a  native 
village  nestled  in  a  hollow  between  two  gently  rolling 
plains.  It  lay  back  against  the  slope  without  a  sign 
of    life,    save    a    thin    circle    of    pale    smoke    here    and 


78  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

there  where  a  New  Year  feast  was  being  prepared, 
and  two  men  carrying  buckets  of  water  on  poles 
over  their  shoulders,  from  a  pool  lower  down.  Three 
carts   in   a   row,   piled   full   of   new   pine   boxes,   with   a 


Q 

1 

■ 

k.      ^^^1 

^^^1 

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f  1  .      "**|^^-^H 

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HI 

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:      m 

TRAVELTTCG    BY    OX    CART 

pale-faced  foreigner  at  front  and  rear,  did  not  pass 
their  way  often.  Though  the  feast  waited  on  the 
coming  of  the  water  in  those  buckets,  the  men  set 
down  their  burdens  and  stood  looking  after  us  as 
if  they  expected  never  to  see  such  a  curious  sight 
again. 


With  Mule  Car.s  and  Drivers  79 

CROSSING    A    DITCH 

The  front  and  middle  carts  had  reached  the  brink 
of  a  wide  drainage  ditch  and  the  carters  were  talking 
together. 

"How  is  your  driver  now?"  my  husband  inquired, 
as  he  came  back  to  the  rear.  "He  may  get  sobered 
down  before  we  get  over  this  place.  They  have 
touched  at  the  wrong  spot.  There  is  no  bridge 
across  the  ditch,  and  the  banks  at  this  point  are  high 
and  steep.  What  a  pity  our  guide  was  delayed!  If 
the  carts  get  through  safely,  we  ourselves  can  ride 
across  on  one  of  the  mules.  They  have  unloosed  one, 
I   think,   for  that  purpose." 

While  he  was  speaking  we  heard  a  shout  from  the 
head  driver,  a  bray  in  response  from  the  lead  mule, 
and  a  creak  of  cart  wheels.  An  instant  later  the 
head  cart  was  making  its  way  through  the  ditch, 
which    was   partly    filled    with    mud    and    water. 

The  second  cart  was  not  so  well  managed.  The 
driver  shouted  excitedly,  snapped  the  whip  over  the 
animals  in  lead,  then,  himself  sank  back  upon  the 
bank,  afraid  to  see  what  would  happen.  The  team 
plunged  into  the  ditch,  snatching  the  old  wheel-mule 
off  his  feet  after  them.  The  cart  rocked  and  swayed 
for  a  moment  on  the  brink,  then  fell  to  the  bottom, 
completely  upsetting  the  load. 

The  wheel-mule  lay  on  his  side  at  the  bottom  of 
the  ditch,  helplessly  bound  between  the  heavy  thills. 
The  driver  looked  scared,  realizing  he  might  be  called 
to  give  account  to  his  village  mandarin  for  his  conduct 
toward  the  foreigner. 

Three  very  changed  carters  rolled  up  their  trousers 
and    got    down    into    the    cold    water.      They    loosened 


80  A'Chu  and   Other  Stories 

the  mule.  He  wriggled  his  body  out  from  between 
the  shafts,  got  onto  his  feet,  and  shook  the  mud 
from  his  coat.  But  the  cart  could  not  be  straightened 
up  till  the  boxes  had  been  moved.  Large  square- 
cornered  boxes  are  not  easy  to  get  hold  of.  The 
water  carriers,  still  looking  on  from  the  hillside, 
were  called  to  help  with  their  poles.  It  is  said  a 
Chinese  can  lift  anything  he  can  tie  to  a  bamboo 
pole,  but  it  was  not  easy  to  get  these  boxes,  sunken 
to  half  their  size  in  the  soft  earth,  tied  to  their 
poles.  The  five  men  together  tugged  at  the  big  box, 
but  had  to  give  it  up.  Then  my  husband  returned 
from  the  village  with  a  piece  of  strong  timber.  A 
stone  was  rolled  down  from  the  bank,  and  with  this 
to  rest  the  timber  on,  he  showed  them  how  to  use 
it  as  a  lever  to  pry  up  the  boxes  and  roll  them 
to    the    higher    ground. 

Possibly  they  were  glad  now  that  they  had  not 
succeeded  in  shaking  oit  the  traveler  by  the  way. 
At  any  rate,  by  being  able  to  help  them  when  they 
were  helpless  the  foreigner  had  raised  himself  a  long 
way  in  their  estimation.  They  seemed  quite  willing 
to  give  him  a  place  when  the  cart  had  been  righted  up 
and  we  started  again  from  the  other  side  of  the  ditch. 

The  carters  were  now  obliged  to  creep  along  very 
cautiously  in  the  dark,  keeping  close  together  in  order 
to  follow  the  track  of  the  leader.  With  a  poor  little 
lantern  he  had  borrowed  at  the  village,  the  head  carter 
picked  his  way  in  a  general  direction  toward  the  city. 
We  had  traveled  far  out  of  the  way,  and  it  was  hope- 
less to  think  of  finding  the  road  again  that  night.  All 
we  could  do  was  to  keep  in  the  direction  pointed  out 
by  the  villagers  as  being  toward   Shangtsai. 


With  Mule  Carts  and  Drivers  81 

Presently,  there  burst  up  from  the  plain  a  brilliant 
light  of  many  colors.  It  flashed  high  into  the  heavens, 
and  lighted  up  the  country  around.  Distinctly,  in  the 
glare,  outlined  against  the  plains,  lay  the  gray  walls 
of    a    Chinese   city. 

"There's  the  city!"  "There's  the  city!"  ex- 
claimed the  carters  in  great  relief. 

Shangtsai  was  welcoming  the  New  Year  by  a  big 
celebration  with  fireworks.  From  this  time  on  till 
we  reached  its  gate,  the  inclosure  within  the  gray 
walls  was  for  the  most  part  a  light  spot  in  the 
darkness.  Pinwheels  were  unrolled,  long  rows  of 
firecrackers  suspended  at  the  doorway  of  homes  and 
shops  were  fired,  and  Roman  candles  were  exploded. 
China  is  the  home  of  gunpowder,  and  the  Chinese 
celebrate  their  New  Year  with  a  lavish  display  and 
variety  of  fireworks  not  to  be  equaled  by  any  Fourth 
of  July  celebration  in  American  towns  of  the  same 
size.  Now  and  then  a  brilliant  rocket  sped  up  into 
the  heavens  to  return  in  a  starry  shower  over  the  plain. 

An  hour  later  we  were  seated  with  our  friends  at 
the  mission,  relating  the  incidents  of  our  first  trip 
alone  with  mule  carts  and  drivers. 


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o 


A   WHEELBARROW   TRIP 

BY    J.    N.    ANDERSON 

N  our  first  visit  to  the  province  of  Honan,  word 
was  received  at  the  mission  that  a  number  of 
persons  living  sixty  li  away,  were  interested  to  hear 
the  message  of  the  soon-coming  Saviour.  We  at  once 
decided  to  visit  them.  To  go  there  we  must  either  go 
afoot   or   travel   by   wheelbarrow. 

A  walk  of  twenty  miles  over  footpaths  wet  with 
recent  snow,  was  not  inviting.  More  than  this,  the 
missionary  who  was  going  with  me  was  an  older  man 
than  I,  and  scarcely  able  to  walk  the  distance.  I 
could  not  go  alone.  Plainly,  our  only  way  was  to 
travel    by    wheelbarrow. 

More  than  a  year  had  passed  since  we  arrived  in 
China,  and  in  this  time  I  had  come  to  feel  at  home 
traveling  by  steamship.  We  were  used  to  getting 
about  by  jinrikisha  and  sedan  chair,  and  could  con- 
tent ourselves  even  with  the  slow-going  house-boat 
when  necessary.  The  wheelbarrow  also  was  an  old 
acquaintance.  I  had  known  it  at  home  as  a  handy 
implement  on  the  farm  and  in  the  garden.  But  for 
traveling  long  distances  it  was  an  altogether  novel 
conveyance  to  me.  Not  so  to  our  friend,  the  mis- 
sionary, for  here  in  central  China  wheelbarrow  con- 
veyances are  as  common  as  railway  cars  in  Western 
countries.  It  is  not  an  unusual  sight  to  see  a  train 
of  twenty-five  or  more  loaded  wheelbarrows  together, 
winding  along  over  the  narrow,  rough,  crooked  paths 
thrown  up  for  this  traffic.  Over  these  roads  communi- 
cation is  kept  up  between  large  cities  and  the  surround- 
ing villages,  even  to  remote  parts  of  the  country. 

83 


84  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

ENGAGING   THE  DRIVER 

However,  before  one  can  go  on  a  wheelbarrow 
journey  he  must  find  some  one  willing  to  take  him. 
On  this  occasion  such  a  person  was  not  easy  to  find. 
This  was  the  Chinese  New  Year  season,  when  every- 
body is  supposed  to  have  cleaned  house,  paid  his 
debts,  shaved  his  head,  and  put  on  his  best  new 
clothes.  All  kinds  of  business  are  laid  aside  for  a 
week  or  two  at  the  beginning  of  their  new  year,  while 
the  whole  Chinese   nation   enjoys   a  holiday. 

But  here  in  China,  as  elsewhere,  money  can  make 
things  go  when  mere  words  fail.  We  promised 
the  chief  of  drivers  1,200  cash  for  a  barrow  on  this 
trip,  and  immediately  two  drivers  volunteered.  That 
did  look  like  a  pile  of  money  as  it  lay  in  a  heap 
strung  together  on  a  hay  string  run  through  the  square 
hole  in  the  center  of  each  piece.  It  really  was  double 
the  usual  price,  but  this  was  the  holiday  season,  and 
we  should  expect  to  pay  accordingly.  We  counted 
the  pieces  again,  and  reckoned  their  value  in  United 
States  currency.  It  was  equal  to  sixty  cents.  The 
journey  would  require  the  time  of  two  men  for 
two  days  going  and  returning,  or  four  days'  work  for 
one  man,  in  all.  After  all,  sixty  cents  did  not  appear  a 
very  large  price  for  four  days'  work  and  the  use  of  a 
wheelbarrow.  We  were  anxious  to  go,  so  a  bargain  was 
closed  with  the  chief,  who  promised  that  a  barrow 
would    be    at    our    door    early    next    morning. 

THE    WHEELBARROW 

These  Chinese  wheelbarrows  are  in  general  built 
like  those  in  the  United  States,  but  are  giants  as 
compared    to   them   in   size.      A   frame   built   over   the 


A   Wheelbarrow   Trip  85 

wheel  is  wide  enough  to  accommodate  a  passenger  and 
his  luggage  on  either  side.  The  barrow  we  engaged 
was  a  first-class  conveyance,  with  a  pair  of  handles  in 
front  as  well  as  at  the  rear.  Such  a  vehicle  is  pro- 
pelled by  two  men,  and  combines  speed  with  comfort. 

The  man  behind  the  barrow  wears  a  heavy,  broad 
strap  over  his  shoulders  and  attached  to  a  handle  at 
each  side.  He  supports  the  load  from  his  shoulders 
while  he  pushes  it  forward.  Another  man  walks  between 
the  handles  in  front,  balancing  the  load  and  guiding  the 
barrow.  He  also  wears  a  strap  over  the  shoulders, 
but  his  strap  is  attached  to  the  body  of  the  barrow, 
and  forms  the  traces  by  which  he  helps  to  pull  the 
load  forward.  Sometimes  when  the  wind  is  favorable, 
a  square  of  cloth  or  matting  is  hoisted  to  serve  as  a  sail. 
A  second-class  barrow  is  smaller,  and  is  intended  to 
be  pushed  by  one  man,  with  possibly  a  boy  in  front 
pulling  by  a  rope.  These  are  more  jerky  in  their  move- 
ments, and  not  so  comfortable  as  the  first  class.  Trav- 
eling by  third   class  one  pays  only  for  a  place  to  sit. 

After  the  passengers  are  seated,  the  manager  makes 
up  the  balance  of  his  load,  which  will  weigh  up  to 
600  or  700  pounds,  of  anything  that  happens  to 
be  awaiting  transportation.  One  often  sees  barrows 
carrying  men  or  women  and  children  on  one  side,  with 
an  equal  weight  of  live  pigs,  poultry,  odorous  dried 
fish,  sacks  of  grain,  or  a  pile  of  cabbages,  on  the  other 
side.  "  What  others  will  think,"  has  much  to  do 
with  our  ideas  of  what  is  proper.  It  is  quite  cer- 
tain a  modest,  well-bred  Chinese  woman  would  feel 
more  comfortable  riding  beside  a  heap  of  pork  or  a 
bundle  of  cabbages,  than  to  be  obliged  to  sit  next  to  a 
gentleman   who   was   not   a   very   near   relative   of  hers. 


86  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

THE    START 

The  drivers  we  had  engaged  were  on  hand  with  a 
strong  new  barrow  next  morning,  as  promised.  We 
should  be  obliged  to  stay  overnight  in  the  village  at 
the  other  end  of  our  journey.  In  China,  guests  arc 
expected  to  bring  with  them  the  bedding  they  will  re- 
quire. Our  hand  luggage  and  bedding  were  distrib- 
uted on  the  frame  so  as  to  make  a  comfortable  place 
for   us   to   lie   or   sit,    as   we   chose. 

When  the  passengers  had  been  comfortably  settled, 
our  barrow  started  on  the  journey  across  a  country 
that  was  beautiful  even  in  early  February.  The  day 
was  bright  and  clear  and  warm,  like  the  pleasant 
days  of  April  in  Michigan  or  Wisconsin.  Indeed,  it 
was  the  opening  of  spring  in  this  part  of  China.  The 
spring's  work  had  not  yet  begun,  for  the  holiday  sea- 
son was  on;  but  the  rich  fields,  cut  into  small,  garden- 
like  patches,  were  green  with  growing  wheat  and  peas, 
sown  in  the  fall,  to  be  harvested   in  May. 

After  a  ride  of  two  or  three  miles  our  drivers  halted 
at  a  small  inn  to  drink  a  cup  of  tea  and  take  a  few 
puffs  at  their  long  wooden  pipes.  By  this  time  the  sun 
was  well  up.  The  wheelbarrow  men  removed  their 
padded  outer  garments,  and  threw  them  onto  the  load. 
Then  each  man  took  his  place  between  the  handles, 
slipped  the  heavy  strap  over  his  shoulders,  and  set  to 
work  in  real  earnest.  For  an  hour  we  covered  the 
distance  rapidly. 

WHY    NO    OIL 

The  Chinese  do  not  oil  their  barrows,  and  the 
big  wheel  groans  and  creaks  with  every  revolution. 
Lying  on  the  bedding  spread   out  on  the  big  frame,   I 


A   Wheelbarrow   Trip  87 

tried  to  imagine  that  this  noise  helped  to  soften  the 
jars  and  jolts  as  the  wheel  went  bumping  over  stones 
and  rough  places  in  the  road.  At  least  it  helped  to 
keep  our  minds  off  these  smaller  troubles,  for  it  screeched 
the  loudest  where  the   road   was   roughest. 

Let  me  add  that  drivers  purposely  omit  oiling  their 
wheelbarrows  for  what  they  think  to  be  very  good 
reasons.  First,  it  saves  the  cost  of  oil.  Of  course  it 
makes  the  barrow  harder  to  drive,  but  where  labor 
is  so  cheap,  folks  do  not  think  much  about  trying  to 
lighten  labor.  The  second  reason  is  by  far  the  more 
important,  —  it  is  thought  the  noise  of  the  wheel  will 
scare  away  the  evil  spirits  supposed  to  be  skulking 
along  the  way.  One  who  has  heard  the  ghostly  groans 
of  a  wheelbarrow  train  in  the  distance  coming  nearer 
and  nearer  till  they  seem  to  rise  out  of  the  earth  at 
his  feet,  can  easily  imagine  the  noise  would  frighten 
anything  into   flight. 

Our  barrow  drove  about  four  miles  an  hour  when 
it  was  under  way,  but  as  the  cost  of  refreshments 
is  always  provided  by  the  passengers,  our  men  stopped 
very  often,  we  thought,  to  get  a  cup  of  tea  or  a 
bowl   of    millet    gruel. 

Once  I  felt  myself  growing  drowsy,  and  stretching 
out  in  the  warm  sunshine,  fell  asleep  for  a  moment. 
Suddenly  a  quick  jolt  of  the  barrow  brought  me  to  my 
senses.  It  was  scarcely  safe  to  be  off  guard  over  such 
roads.  If  another  jolt  like  that  should  catch  me  nap- 
ping, I  might  roll  off  into  the  ditch,  and  the  wheel- 
barrow, thus  suddenly  unbalanced,  would  tip  over. 

Sometimes  the  road  was  only  a  narrow,  one-wheel 
track  between  fields.  Here  and  there  it  was  a  turn- 
pike   four    to   seven    feet    in    width  —  wide    enough    to 


88 


A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 


allow  barrows  traveling  in  opposite  directions  to  pass 
each  other.  Everywhere  it  was  about  as  crooked  as 
one   can   imagine   a   road   to   be. 

This    has   not   just    happened    to    be    so.      Roads    in 
China  are  built  that  way   for  a  purpose.      Evil  spirits 


A    WITEET.BARROW    TRIP    IN    HONAN 

are  believed  to  be  able  to  travel  only  in  a  straight 
line.  On  this  account  all  roads  are  laid  out  in  a 
winding  fashion,  twisting  between  the  fields  and  knolls. 
The  Chinese  think  this  will  throw  evil  spirits  off  the 
track,  so  that  they  cannot  follow  a  traveler  to  do  him 
harm. 


A   Wheelbarrow   Trip 


89 


IN    NO    HASTE 

Farther  on  we  reached  a  beautiful  running  stream 
spanned  by  a  massive  stone  arched  bridge.  This 
bridge  may  have  been,  as  our  drivers  declared,  200 
years  old,  but  the  stone  arch  was  as  firm  as  if  it 
were  but  two  weeks  old.  There  was  a  comfortable 
inn  below  the  bridge.  Here  our  train  halted  again. 
My    fellow    passenger    and    I    were    careful    to    alight 


AX    ARCHED    BRIDGE 


at  the  same  moment  so  as  not  to  capsize  the  barrow. 
Again  the  drivers  refreshed  themselves  with  tea 
and  filled  their  pipes,  but  this  time  they  sat  down 
on  some  wooden  benches  under  a  straw  canopy  for 
a  good  rest.  We  began  to  think  they  were  taking 
at  least  a  half-holiday  by  the  way.  We  knew  it  was 
wiser  to  keep  still,  so  those  of  us  who  did  not 
smoke  contented  ourselves  with  chewing  and  sucking 
the  juice  of  green  sugar-cane  stalks,  which  we  pur- 
chased    in     short    sticks     at     the     confectionery     stand 


90  J'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

near  the  door  of  the  inn.  The  sweet  juice  was  re- 
freshing, and  the  chewing  helped  us  to  keep  from 
saying  words  better  not  spoken. 

The  next  halt  was  made  at  a  village  halfway  to 
our  destination.  Here  we  stopped  for  tiffin.  After 
the  meal  was  over,  we  spent  some  time  distributing 
copies  of  a  Gospel  of  the  Scriptures.  The  village  peo- 
ple flocked  into  the  street  out  of  curiosity  to  see  the 
strange  foreigners.  Each  of  these  booklets  cost  less 
than  one  cent,  but  even  so,  many  of  these  people  said 
they  were  too  poor  —  had  no  money  to  buy.  Some  did 
not  care  for  our  books,  and  many  could  not  read. 

After  this  stop,  our  wheelbarrow  men  showed  a  real 
desire  to  get  to  the  end  of  the  journey.  They  drove 
the  last  half  of  the  distance  with  but  one  short  stop. 
Had  they  started  out  this  way,  we  might  have  reached 
the  large  village  which  was  our  destination  by  noon. 
As  it  was,  we  did  not  arrive  till  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon.  A  very  comfortable  room  had  been  pre- 
pared for  us.  When  the  messenger  they  had  sent  to 
invite  us  gave  out  word  the  "  teachers  "  had  come,  an 
earnest  group  of  Chinese  immediately  came  to  be  taught. 

SOWING    THE    GOSPEL    SEED 

As  soon  as  we  were  settled,  our  Chinese  evangel- 
ist sent  out  his  card  to  the  most  important  men  of 
the  town.  This  card  was  a  strip  of  heavy  bright-red 
paper,  bearing  his  name  written  in  three  large  black 
characters,  in  a  perpendicular  line  down  the  center. 
Almost  at  once,  those  who  received  these  cards,  began  to 
call.  Through  them,  word  that  there  would  be  a  public 
meeting  in  the  evening,  was  carried  throughout  the 
village. 


EVAl^GETJST   FAX   DE!^    D.TrTTT 


91 


92  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

That  evening  fully  two  hundred  persons  came  till 
there  was  no  longer  standing  room  in  the  big  house, 
nor  in  the  street  before  the  door.  The  company  consisted 
mainly  of  men  and  boys,  with  only  now  and  then  a 
venturesome  woman  in  a  distant  part  of  the  room.  The 
poor  and  the  rich  came.  The  docile  peasant  in  blue 
cotton  garments  crowded  close  upon  the  proud  mandarin 
clothed  in  rich  silks  and  soft  fur.  All  listened  attentively 
while  the  evangelist  told  how  the  true  God,  whom  he 
now  served,  is  different  from  the  gods  whom  he  once 
served. 

The  true  God  claims  every  man's  love  and  obedience 
because  he  created  us.  Then  he  related  his  own  ex- 
perience in  becoming  a  Christian.  "  Surely,"  he  said, 
"  if  God  could  save  a  sinner  like  me,  he  can  save  you, 
my  friends." 

Some  listened  with  deep  interest,  and  one  could 
feel  that  these  meant  to  follow  the  speaker's  advice 
and  become  worshipers  of  the  true  God.  Others 
looked  dazed  and  bewildered,  as  if,  though  they  heard 
his  words,  they  could  not  make  out  his  meaning.  I 
am  sure  they  will  come  again  when  a  chapel  is 
opened  in  this  village,  as  it  soon  must  be.  Others 
talked  their  disbelief  aloud  in  the  meeting,  and 
growled  about  the  foreigners  who  had  come  to  change 
their   long-time   customs. 

The  next  morning  the  chief  mandarin  of  the  village 
sent  his  card  inviting  us  to  call  at  his  residence. 
He  received  us  with  real  Oriental  display  of  hospi- 
tality. When  this  was  over,  and  we  began  to  talk 
seriously,  he  begged  that  we  would  come  and  open 
a  mission  in  the  town,  promising  to  protect  and  help 
us    with    his    influence. 


A   fVheelbarrow   Trip 


93 


We  set  out  on  our  return  to  the  mission  with  a 
strong  feeling  that  God  is  opening  the  way  for  his 
message  of  salvation  to  be  preached  to  the  Chinese  peo- 
ple, and  that  it  should  be  our  greatest  pleasure  to  use 
every  means  in  our  power  to  see  this  work  accomplished. 

The  Chinese  may  be  behind  the  times  in  using  the 
wheelbarrow  and  other  slow  means  of  travel.  They 
are  slow  in  adopting  the  use  of  modern  inventions. 
But  in  their  need  of  a  Saviour  they  are  not  behind 
us.  Neither  are  they  slower  than  we  to  accept  his 
salvation.  It  often  appears  that  they  appreciate  God's 
great  love  the  more  in  proportion  to  the  darkness  out  of 
which    they    are    redeemed. 


RAFT   ON    THE   YGUAZU   BIVEB 


m 

M           M 

m 

©  U.  &  U.,  N.  Y. 


SCENE  ON  A  CANAL 


m  [gl         m 


94 


A  JOURNEY  IN  A  HOUSE-BOAT 

THE  call  rang  out  from  the  upper  veranda  of 
our  home,  "A'Ho!    A'Kom!" 

The  house  faces  the  river,  and  stands  only  three 
or  four  rods  from  the  water's  edge.  A  long  row  of 
house-boats  and  sampans  always  lies  in  front,  but 
we  find  it  more  satisfactory  to  employ  a  boat  we  are 
well    acquainted    with. 

"  A'Ho  comes,"  responded  that  person  from  where 
she  stood  beside  the  block  of  a  fish  vender,  who 
dressed  the  fish  on  the  spot  and  dealt  out  fresh  sea 
foods. 

"  A  boat  is  needed,  quickly." 

"Ah,  so  you  wish  a  boat?  Going  to  what  place?" 
inquired  A'Ho,  looking  up  to  the  veranda  with  a  good- 
natured    smile. 

"  Going  to  the   steamboat  wharf,"   replied   the  voice. 

"Going  to  the  fire-boat's  horsehead  for  what?"  she 
continued,  childishly. 

"  Going  to  meet  a  friend  coming  on  the  steamer 
from  Hongkong.     Come  quickly." 

"  A-a-h,  come  before  long,"  she  promised,  rather 
too  indefinitely. 

It  was  one  of  those  dull,  damp  winter  mornings  that 
come  with  January  in  the  semitropics.  While  there 
is  no  sign  of  frost,  the  cold  chills  the  thin  blood 
and  stiffens  the  muscles  of  the  native  people,  leaving 
them    little    inclined    to    work. 

The  boatwoman  made  her  way  leisurely  toward 
the  river.  In  one  hand  she  held  a  small  piece  of 
fish  and  a  very  large  white  radish;  the  other  clutched 
a    sack    of    rice.      The    slip    of    white,    fresh    fish    was 

95 


96  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

slung  in  a  noose  of  dried  grass  and  handled  with 
care.  The  large  vegetable  root,  half  radish,  partly 
turnip,  dangled  from  a  longer  strand  of  the  same 
tough  fiber.  No  wrapping  paper  or  twine  had  been 
wasted  at  the  market  on  either  of  these  articles. 
It  was  no  use  for  the  boatwoman  to  cover  her  pur- 
chases. Where  house-boats  lie  so  close  together,  side 
touching  side,  there  can  be  no  secret  as  to  what 
the   neighbors   are   to   have   for   breakfast. 

We  were  ready  to  start,  waiting  at  the  small 
landing  place  before  our  door.  The  boat  had  not 
come. 

"  Sampan,  come  quickly!  What  makes  you  so  very 
slow  ?  "    we    urged. 

"  Fear  the  fire-boat  not  yet  has  arrived.  We  have 
not   seen   it,"    drawled    the    headwoman. 

"  True,  the  steamer  has  not  arrived,  but  it  is  due 
at  eight  o'clock.  It  takes  a  half  hour  to  row  to 
the    wharf." 

"  Not  can  go  so  swiftly  this  morning,"  she  argued. 

"  The  tide  is  against  us,  very  strong.  About  nine 
o'clock  the  tide  turns,  rowing  will  be  easy  then,"  spoke 
up  one  of  the  other  women. 

"  Cannot  wait.  The  steamer  is  due  at  eight  o'clock. 
Our  friend  has  sent  word  he  will  come  by  this 
boat,"   we   insisted. 

"  No  mistake,  —  I  understand,  —  but  he  will  wait 
for  you,  will  he  not?"  she  still  continued,  although 
we    were    already    settling    ourselves    in    her    boat. 

"  Our  friend  is  a  stranger  here.  He  has  come 
all  the  way  from  Australia  to  visit  us.  He  would 
think  us  *  lost-manners '  [rude  or  impolite]  persons 
if   we  were  not  on   time   to   meet   him." 


Journey   in  a  House-Boat  97 

*'Ah,  the  Western  man  is  like  that?  You  say  he  comes 
from  the  New  Gold  Mountain?^  V-e-r-y  f-a-r!  " 
she  mused.  Then  as  if  trying  to  think  out  just  how 
far  away  was  that  land  of  gold,  she  asked,  "  The  big 
piece  fire-boat  walked  how  long  before  he  got  here?" 

We  were  too  much  concerned  with  getting  started 
to  answer  more  questions  just  then.  One  missionary 
woman  who  travels  about  in  boats  a  great  deal  asserts 
that  during  the  last  year  she  has  translated  a  text- 
book for  use  in  her  schools  while  waiting  for  boats. 
In  some  country  villages  of  the  West  River  delta 
the  boat  people  will  not  go  against  the  tide.  They 
prefer  rather  to  wait  for  the  tide  to  turn  their  way. 
At  longest  it  cannot  be  more  than  six  hours.  That 
is  not  long  to  wait.  At  least  it  does  not  seem  long 
to  these  boat  people,  who  spend  most  of  their  time 
squatted   on   their   heels,   chatting. 

"  Now  we  are  ready,  quickly  go,"  we  said  when  we 
were   seated. 

"  Not  can  go  quickly.  The  current  is  very  strong. 
Fear  we  need  one  piece  strong  man  at  the  scull. 
A'Kom  must  help  me  in  front.  A'So  is  old  and 
not  strong  any  more,"  suggested  the  headwoman. 
turning  her  head  to  take  a  peep  into  the  tiny  mite 
of  a  kitchen  where  the  old  woman  was  cooking  their 
breakfast. 

The  blazing  sticks  had  already  been  drawn  from 
under  the  rice  kettle.  Only  smoldering  coals  and 
hot  ashes  remained.  This  was  a  sure  sign  the  rice 
was  boiled,  and  was  now  left  to  steam  till  the 
kernels    should    become    tender    and    sweet.      The    big 

^  This  is  the  name  by  which  Australia  has  been  known  since  the 
discovery  of  Rold,  in  distinction  from  the  west  coast  of  our  United 
States,  called  the  "  Gold  Mountain  "  for  the  same  reason. 


98  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

vegetable  had  been  carefully  cut  into  narrow  shreds, 
and  was  stewing  in  a  broad  iron  pan  over  a  hot 
fire.  A'So  lifted  the  cover  and  stirred  the  white 
strips.  A  savory  odor  of  vegetable  in  peanut  oil 
passed  our  way.  This  dish,  too,  was  almost  done. 
She  laid  on  top  with  particular  care  the  piece  of 
fresh  fish  hacked  into  three  portions.  Then  the  cover 
was  fitted  on  snugly  for  the  fish  to  steam.  The  old 
woman  pushed  into  the  fire  the  few  remaining  brands, 
and  leaned  back  in  her  seat  with  a  look  of  satisfied 
contentment. 

Falling  in  with  the  headwoman's  suggestion  of  more 
help,  we  said,  "  Well,  if  the  rowing  is  so  very  heavy, 
call    another   man." 

"  If  we  call  another  man,  we  shall  require  more 
pay,  shall  we  not  ?  "  she  parleyed. 

"  That  I  do  not  know.  You  have  one  set  price 
for  this  trip,  do  you  not?" 

"  Perhaps  the  Western  man  does  so.  We  Chinese 
not  do  the  same.  Use  more  men,  one  must  put 
out  more  money,"  she  explained. 

A  neighbor  was  called.  He  put  into  motion  the  long, 
sweeping  scull  in  the  rear.  The  women  in  front  dipped 
their  oars,  and  the  boat  began  to  slip  out  from  between 
its  companions. 

"Beg  your  pardon,  may  we  pass?"  called  the  head- 
woman  to  her  seniors.  "  Step  aside,"  she  said  to  those 
of  her  own  age,  and  "  Thank  you,"  as  we  passed.  These 
boat  people  certainly  have  learned  that  people  may  live 
very  close  together  and  get  on  smoothly  if  they  will  be 
pleasant  and  courteous  to  one  another. 

The  tide  was  going  out  swiftly,  but  with  two  women 
rowing  and  a  man  at  the  scull  in  the  stern,  we  made 


Journey   in  a  House-Boat  99 

good  progress.  The  house-boat  rocked  steadily  upstream 
while  we  sat  comfortably  sheltered  by  its  arching  top. 
At  this  early  hour  most  of  the  house-boats  still  lay  at 
their  mooring.  We  passed  close  to  the  stern  of  a  large 
boat  where  the  family  were  at  breakfast.  In  hot  weather 
the  morning  meal  is  taken  later  in  the  day,  but  in  cool 
weather  an  early  hot  breakfast  helps  to  warm  the  sampan 


RIVER    FRONT    NEAR   CHAXGSHA    MISSION 

family.  Whiffs  of  cooked  salt  fish  and  the  odor  of  salt 
vegetables,  pickled  after  the  manner  of  sauerkraut,  was 
in  the  air. 

"So  fragrant!  Certainly  a  good  flavor,"  remarked 
A'Ho.  I  suspect  she  was  thinking  quite  as  much  of  the 
radish  stew  with  fish  waiting  in  her  own  kitchen,  as  of 
the  salt  fish  and  sauerkraut  in  the  big  boat. 

The  hardest  place  in  the  river  had  been  reached.  It 
is  at  this  turn  that  the  large  American  hospital  and  the 
tall  medical  college  loom  above  their  Chinese  neighbors. 
The  water  swirls  in  making  the  bend.     When  the  tide 


100  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

goes  out  the  strongest,  the  current  eddies  and  is  swift. 

A  loud,  hoarse  whistle  broke  from  downstream. 

"The  steamboat!"  I  exclaimed.  "We  cannot  get 
there  in  time!  " 

"  Fire-boat  is  coming.  That  is  certain,"  repeated  the 
head  boatwoman.  A  scared  look  came  into  her  face  as 
she  repeated  over  again,  "  Certainly  coming."  She  re- 
membered that  if  she  did  not  reach  the  wharf  in  time, 
her  passengers  would  be  in  disgrace.  Their  friend  would 
think  them  "  lost-manners  "  persons. 

"  Row!  row  hard!  "  she  shouted  back  excitedly  to  the 
man  in  the  stern.  He  responded  with  all  his  strength. 
The  big  oar  went  to  and  fro  with  long  sweeps  that 
almost  lifted  the  rower  from  his  footing. 

"  Sit  very  still  and  in  the  middle,"  she  commanded  us. 
The  two  women  in  front  swung  back  on  the  oars  with 
all  their  might.  A  race  was  on.  Not  a  word  was 
spoken,  but  an  occasional,  "  Pull,  pull-1-ee,"  came  like  a 
groan  from  the  headwoman.  Outer  garments  were 
thrown  o£E,  and  their  faces  grew  red  with  exertion. 

Better  to  have  started  with  a  little  more  energy  than 
to  make  all  this  fuss  at  the  end,  I  thought.  But  A'Ho 
would  have  replied  to  this  also,  "  That  is  your  way, 
not  ours." 

The  steamboat  slowed  down.  The  house-boat  shot 
ahead  and  reached  the  wharf  first. 

"  There  is  our  friend  on  the  deck,  standing  at  the 
bow!" 

We  knew  him  by  his  erect  figure,  his  broad  shoulders, 
and  the  crown  of  gray  hair. 


The  Chinese  and  How  They  Live 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  CHINESE 

WHERE  the  founders  of  the  present  Chinese  race 
came  from,  no  one  really  knows.  Some  think 
their  ancestors  lived  south  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  and 
that  they  traveled  eastward  so  long  ago  as  in  the 
century  of  the  twenty-four  hundreds  before  Christ. 
Others  say,  No;  they  must  have  come  from  the  valley 
of  the  Euphrates,  because  in  many  ways  the  early 
Chinese   were   like   the   ancient    Chaldeans. 

One  thing  is  certain,  the  founders  of  China  were  a 
wandering  people  from  Western  Asia.  They  came  to 
the  East,  driving  their  flocks  and  herds  with  them. 
Finding  the  valley  of  the  Yellow  River,  in  the  part 
now  known  as  the  province  of  Shensi,  to  their  liking, 
they  drove  out  the  original  tribes  and  made  themselves 
at  home.  Soon  after  settling  in  this  region,  they  added 
farming  to  their  old   occupation  of  stock   grazing. 

The  earliest  Chinese  used  picture  writing  somewhat 
like  that  of  ancient  Egypt.  In  these  early  writings 
are  found  picture  words  which  show  that  the  people 
kept  cattle  and  sheep,  and  that  they  also  tilled  the 
soil.  The  shape  and  style  of  Chinese  houses,  especially 
of  their  roofs,  resemble  tents.  This  resemblance  is 
taken  as  further  proof  that  their  ancestors  were  tent 
dwellers,  and  brought  over  this  tent-style  of  architec- 
ture from  their  nomadic  life. 

EARLY    MYTHS    OF    CREATION 

The  Chinese  do  not  trace  the  beginning  of  the 
world  to  its  creation  by  God,  as  related  in  the  Bible. 
P'an  Ku,  their  first  man,  is  supposed  to  have  come 
to  life  when  all  the  universe  was  yet  in  confusion  and 

103 


104  A'Chu  -and  Other  Stories 

darkness.  He  was  given  a  chisel  and  a  mallet,  and 
left  to  make  a  world  for  himself  to  live  in.  Native 
paintings  present  P'an  Ku  as  a  great  giant  at  work 
cutting  the  rocks  with  chisel  and  mallet.  He  toiled 
for  nearly  twice  ten  thousand  years  before  the  heavens 
and    earth    were    formed. 

Three  other  giants  followed  P'an  Ku,  —  the  heav- 
enly, the  earthly,  and  the  human.  These  each  in 
turn  worked  the  same  length  of  time.  Finally,  ac- 
cording to  Chinese  legends,  the  earth  was  finished 
as   we   now   see   it. 

After  these  three  came  Yu  Ch'ao,  **  the  dweller 
in  a  nest."  He  taught  men  to  build  houses  to  live 
in.  Before  his  time  they  had  lived  in  holes  in  the 
earth,  in  caves,   and   among  the   branches  of   the   trees. 

Sui  Jen,  "  the  producer  of  fire,"  discovered  how  to 
make  fire  by  rapidly  boring  one  hard  stick  of  wood 
into  another.  Then  men  began  to  use  fire  to  cook 
food.  They  no  longer  ate  raw  food  like  the  beasts. 
He  also  taught  his  people  to  count  and  to  record  ac- 
counts. Instead  of  writing  figures  in  columns,  — 
units,  tens,  hundreds,  etc.,  —  they  tied  knots  in  a 
string.  The  length  of  the  space  before  a  knot  in- 
dicated   its    value. 

These  stories  are  only  legends  or  myths,  and  give 
no  account  of  anything  that  even  might  have  hap- 
pened. However,  they  do  help  us  to  understand  that 
from  those  earliest  times  the  Chinese  have  not  known 
God  as  the  creator  of  all  things  and  a  kind  heavenly 
Father.  Instead  of  depending  on  a  Saviour's  power, 
they  have  thought  that  every  man,  like  P'an  Ku, 
the  first  man,  must  work  out  his  own  salvation  in 
his    own    strength. 


Origin  of  the  Chinese 


105 


"THE    ANCIENT    BOOK    OF    HISTORY" 

Confucius,  China's  greatest  teacher,  undertook  to 
piece  together  all  the  early  writings  he  could  find 
into  a  history  of  China.  He  collected  accounts  that 
had   been  preserved   in   writing   upon   strips   of   bamboo, 


PAGODA,    TEMPLE,    AND    MONASTERY    NEAR    CANTON 


and  with  great  patience  and  labor  put  them  together 
in  what  is  called  "  The  Ancient  Book  of  History." 
Two  rulers  of  these  early  times,  Yao  (b.  c.  2356) 
and  Shun  (b.  c.  2255),  are  especially  revered  by  Con- 
fucius and  by  his  pupil  Mencius.     To  the  present  time 


106  AXhu  and  Other  Stories 

these  men  are  esteemed  the  wisest  and  most  virtuous 
that  ever  ruled  this  people.  Their  reigns  are  regarded 
as  the  Golden  Age  of  Chinese  history. 

At  this  early  period  China  had  already  become  a 
monarchy  ruled  by  kings  instead  of,  as  in  the  begin- 
ning, by  merely  tribal  chiefs  selected,  like  the  judges 
of  Israel,  because  they  had  proved  themselves  most 
fitted    to    defend    the    nation. 

THE    OLDEST    NATION 

Although  these  accounts  collected  by  Confucius  are 
firmly  believed  by  the  majority  of  Chinese  scholars,  the 
truth  in  them  is  so  mixed  with  legend  that  it  is  al- 
most impossible  to  tell  what  is  true  and  what  is  purely 
legendary.  Of  this,  however,  we  may  be  certain:  China 
is  the  oldest  nation  in  the  world  today.  Other  great 
nations,  like  Egypt,  Assyria,  Babylonia,  Greece,  Rome, 
long  ago  rose  to  the  height  of  their  power  and  passed 
away.  Three  thousand  years  ago  China  had  become 
a  great  nation,  with  a  stable  government,  having  also  a 
literature,  a  religion,  manufactures,  and  arts,  and  all 
that   goes   to   make   up   what    is   called    civilization. 

Looking  backward  upon  what  she  had  attained 
in  her  Golden  Age,  the  nation  became  satisfied,  and 
from  that  time  to  the  beginning  of  this  century  — 
1900  —  she  made  little  real  progress.  Today  her  gov- 
ernment, social  customs,  methods  of  education,  and  in- 
dustries are  those  of  that  ancient  world,  the  time  when 
our   Old   Testament   Bible  was   being  written. 

Today  China  covers  an  area  of  more  than  4,000,000 
square  miles,  with  a  population  of  400,000,000  people, 
but  for  all  this  she  is  counted  one  of  the  feeblest 
among    the    nations    of    the    modern    world. 


Griffin  of  the  Chinese  107 

GOD'S   PLAN   FOR   CHINA 

China's  people  are  hopeless  of  a  future  life,  and  con- 
sequently are  careless  of  this  life,  because  they  do  not 
know  that  it  is  given  us  to  prepare  for  eternal  life. 
The  Christian  can  say,  "  Henceforth  there  is  laid  up 
for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness."  The  non-Christian 
Chinese  looks  forward  only  to  an  uncertain  future  in  a 
spirit  world.  There  is  no  picture  of  a  bright  resurrec- 
tion day,  with  its  meeting  again  of  dear  ones,  before 
his  eyes.  He  has  no  hope  for  a  City  of  God,  with  its 
everlasting  joys.  At  best  he  may  hope  that  after  a 
long  time  he  will  be  returned  to  this  world  to  try  life 
over   again   in  some  other   form  of   existence. 

Many  of  the  truest  and  wisest  of  China's  leaders 
today  are  saying  that  China  is  poor,  and  blind,  and 
wretched,  and  naked,  because  her  people  have  for- 
saken the  true  God  and  followed  after  idols.  One 
has  said,  "  There  is  but  one  help  for  all  our  troubles, 
that    is   Jesus    Christ." 

Long  centuries  ago,  while  China  was  a  great  na- 
tion, still  satisfied  with  her  own  ways,  the  prophet 
of  Israel  saw  this  need.  He  predicted  that  God 
would  send  help  to  this  darkened  people,  and  lead 
many    of    them    into    his    kingdom: 

"  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  ...  to  him  whom  man 
despiseth,  to  him  whom  the  nation  abhorreth,  to  a 
servant  of  rulers.  Kings  shall  see  and  arise,  princes 
also  shall  worship,  because  of  the  Lord  that  is  faith- 
ful, .  .  .  and  he  shall  choose  thee.  .  .  .  Behold, 
these  shall  come  from  far:  and,  lo,  these  from  the 
north  and  from  the  west;  and  these  from  the  land  of 
Sinim." 


CITY   WALL   AND    GATE 


108 


CHINA'S  NAME  OF  PROMISE 

CHINA  may  be  divided  into  two  parts:  China 
Proper,  or  the  eighteen  provinces  which  occupy  the 
southeastern  quarter  of  the  continent  of  Asia;  and  her 
five  dependencies,  lying  to  the  west  and  north  of  these 
provinces. 

MANY   NAMES   FOR   CHINA 

The  nanie  "China"  is  a  foreign  word.  No  Chi- 
nese calls  his  native  land  by  this  name.  It  is  not 
known  where  this  name  came  from  nor  when  it 
came  into  use.  Some  say  it  was  in  use  more  than 
a  thousand  years  before  Christ;  others  think  it  is 
of  a  much  later  date.  The  Chinese  use  the  term 
"  Shih-pa-sheng "  (the  eighteen  provinces)  when  they 
speak    of    China    Proper. 

Chung  Kwok  (meaning  middle  kingdom)  is  the 
name  in  most  common  use  by  the  Chinese.  This 
name  may  first  have  been  used  to  designate  the  middle 
part  of  their  own  country  —  the  Eighteen  Provinces 
—  as  separate  from  the  other  divisions ;  but  more 
likely  it  was  applied  to  China  as  the  center  of  the 
whole  earth,  as  they  conceived  it  to  be.  Their  early 
maps  represent  China  as  the  most  important  kingdom 
of  the  world,  and  other  nations  as  occupying  small 
cities   or   colonies   on   or    around    its   border. 

Another  name  applied  to  China  is  Celestial  King- 
dom, and  the  Chinese  are  sometimes  called  Celestials. 
This  also  is  a  foreign  name.  The  Chinese  never  call 
themselves  Celestials,  nor  their  country  the  Celestial 
Kingdom.  The  ruling  classes  have  sometimes  styled 
themselves    T'ien    Ch'ao    (the    heavenly    rulers,    or    the 

109  - 


110  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

kingdom  whose  rulers  are  appointed  by  heaven).  The 
emperor  was  called  the  Son  of  Heaven.  This  idea 
of  rulers  from  heaven,  however,  is  not  peculiar  to 
China,  for  rulers  of  other  monarchies  also  assume  to 
reign    as    appointed    by    "  the    will    of    God." 

Cathay  is  the  name  by  which  China  was  known 
to  the  inhabitants  of  Central  Asia  and  of  Southern 
Europe  in  the  days  of  Marco  Polo.  This  Italian 
traveler  entered  China  by  way  of  the  desert  of  Gobi. 
He  published  an  interesting  account  of  his  travels  and 
of  his  stay  at  the  magnificent  court  of  this  great 
empire.  This  name  "  Cathay  "  was  derived  from  Kitai, 
a  people  who  ruled  the  north  of  China  in  the  tenth 
century  anno  Domini.  The  Russians,  whose  early  in- 
tercourse with  China  was  through  the  country  of  this 
people,   still  call  the  Chinese  Kitai. 

The  Chinese  are  also  called  "  the  black-haired  race." 
The  people  are  proud  of  their  abundant,  coal-black  hair. 
A  native  person  who  happens  to  have  tawny  hair  or 
hair  slightly  tinged  with  red,  is  the  object  of  funny 
jokes  and  slighting  remarks.  The  Chinese  call  the  Eng- 
lish, as  a  race,  "  red-haired  men,"  because  of  their  fair 
complexion  and  light  hair. 

A  native  name  for  China  is  T'ang  Shan  (hills  of 
T'ang).  T'ang  is  the  name  of  a  highly  honored 
dynasty  of  kings.  From  this  name  the  Chinese  call 
themselves  T'ang  Yan,  or  Men  of  T'ang.  This  is  the 
common  name  by  which  Chinese  speak  of  their  race  in 
the  south  of  China. 

Another  favorite  name  for  China  is  Chung  Fo  Kwok 
(the  middle  flowery  kingdom).  A  still  older  name 
is  Wa  Ha   (land  of  the  glorious  rulers). 

The  last  royal  family  to  rule  China  were  the 
Manchus,    who    were    of    Tartar    blood.      The    proud 


Chinas  Name  of  Promise  111 

spirit  of  the  Chinese  chafed  under  the  rule  of  the 
Manchus,  whom  they  considered  foreigners  and  op- 
pressors. These  rulers  styled  themselves  the  T'sing 
(pure  kings),  and  the  country  they  governed,  Tai 
T'sing  Kwok   (the  great  pure  kingdom). 

Buddhists  have  called  China  by  the  Hindu  name, 
Chin  Tan  (davt^n).  By  the  Mohammedans  it  is  called 
the  Land  of  the  East.  Both  these  foreign  religions 
have  found  many  followers  in  China. 

TIHE  NAME  OF  PROMISE 

Last  of  all  is  the  name  by  which  Christians  love 
to  speak  of  this  country  of  the  Far  East  —  the  land  of 
Sinim.  This  is  the  name  China  is  called  by  the 
prophet  Isaiah.  Though  he  saw  his  own  people  — 
God's  people,  too  —  going  into  captivity  because  of 
their  sins  and  their  unfaithfulness  to  Jehovah ;  and 
though  he  beheld  the  kingdom  in  which  God  had  set 
them  to  be  a  light,  given  as  a  spoil  to  the  heathen, 
yet  the  prophet  was  still  strong  in  faith.  In  the 
presence  of  that  calamity  which  was  soon  to  sweep 
away  his  nation,  he  prophesied  that  God  would  again 
gather  to  himself  a  people  from  all  parts  of  the 
earth,  and  with  that  multitude  he  saw  a  company 
whom  he  called  *'  these  from  the  land  of  Sinim." 
This  is  the  best  of  all  names,  because  it  is  coupled 
with  a  promise  that  the  Chinese  shall  yet  hear  the 
glad  news,  and  that  "  many  shall  come  from  the  East  " 
to  "  sit  down  with  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  in 
the    kingdom    of    heaven." 

When  we  say,  "  Thy  kingdom  come,"  let  every 
heart  pray  for  a  blessing  upon  the  men  and  women  in 
China  who  are  striving  to  bring  the  fulfilment  of  this 
promise. 


CANTON   FROM   DAY   TO   DAY 

THE  city  of  Canton  has  a  population  of  two  and 
one-half  million.  It  is  the  largest  city  of  South 
China.  This  is  where  our  home  is.  All  about  us  are 
strange  faces  that  look  so  much  alike  to  us  because 
every  person  has  black  hair  and  black  eyes.  From 
every  direction  come  the  musical  tones  of  a  strange 
speech  that  baffles  our  understanding.  On  all  sides  is 
suffering  we  would  like  to  relieve  and  sorrow  we  would 
like  to  comfort.  On  all  sides  we  see  the  effects  of  ig- 
norance and  terrible  superstition  which  only  the  gospel 
can  uproot. 

But  before  we  can  gain  the  confidence  of  the  Chi- 
nese people,  or  even  become  acquainted  with  them,  we 
must  learn  to  speak  with  them  in  their  own  native 
speech.  It  will  take  a  long  time  to  learn  to  speak 
well,  but  it  will  take  a  yet  longer  time,  our  teacher 
says,  to  get  acquainted  with  Chinese  ways  of  doing 
and  thinking  so  that  we  can  teach  the  message  we 
have  come  to  bring,  without  offending  the  people  who 
hear.  This  great  city  is  just  the  place  to  live  while 
we  study  the  Cantonese  language,  which  is  the  dialect 
spoken   in   the   two    southern    provinces    of    China. 

Our  house  faces  Pearl  River,  and  is  three  miles 
downstream  from  the  Sha-mien,  as  the  foreign  settle- 
ment is  called.  Buried  here  in  the  heart  of  a  great 
Chinese  city,  we  seldom  see  a  white  face,  but  we  enjoy 
getting  out  to  talk  with  the  Chinese  people.  It  helps 
our  ears  to  catch  these  language  tones,  and  we  are 
eager   to   learn. 

The  people  are  very  friendly,  and  too  polite  to 
notice  the  blunders  we  make  in  trying  to  speak  their 
8  113 


©  U.  &  U.,  N.  Y. 

LOOKING   DOWN   INTO   SHAPPAT-PO    3TBEET,    CANTON 

114 


Canton  from  Day  to  Day  115 

language.  Judging  from  the  correctness  with  which 
they  guess  at  our  meaning  when  we  really  do  not  say 
at  all  what  we  mean,  they  must  be  very  keen  and 
quick  to  understand.  Tai  So,  the  woman  who  lives 
with  us,  is  different.  I  said  to  her,  "  Please  turn  the 
lamp   low  when   you   leave   this   room." 

A  few  moments  later  the  odor  of  smoking  oil  spread 
through  the  house.     Looking  for  the  cause,   we  found 


VIEW    OF    PEARL    RIVER 

a  stream  of  flame  and  smoke  pouring  from  the  chim- 
ney  of   this   lamp. 

"Did  I  not  request  you  to  turn  the  lamp  low?" 
I    reproved,    rather    doubtfully. 

"  No,  madam,  you  asked  me  to  make  it  big/'  she 
returned    with    certainty. 

The  difference  lay  in  the  pronunciation  of  the  little 
Chinese  word  tai.  Pronounced  in  one  tone  it  means 
"  low,"  in  another  tone  it  means  "  big."  Perhaps, 
after  all,   stupid   Tai   So   is  our  best  teacher.      It  will 


116  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

not  be  easy  to  forget,  another  time,  which  tone 
means  "  low." 

A  Chinese  city  is  very  different  from  a  city  in 
Western  countries.  In  Canton  two  million  people  live 
on  a  land  area  about  eight  miles  long  east  and  west 
along  the  river,  by  five  miles  wide  from  the  river  front 
on  the  south  to  the  city  wall  running  along  the  crest 
of  a  range  of  hills  on  the  north.  There  are  no  tall 
buildings.  The  inhabitants  live  densely  packed  together 
in  low  houses,  at  most  not  more  than  two  low  stories 
high.  The  streets  are  very  narrow,  and  there  are  no 
green  lawns,  no  shade  trees,  no  parks.  It  looks  as  if 
the    population    requires    every    inch    of    the    space. 

When  we  first  came  to  Canton,  there  was  a  crevice 
between  our  house  and  the  fish  market  next  door  on 
the  west.  This  space  was  less  than  five  feet  wide 
at  the  front  and  tapered  to  a  point  twenty-five  feet 
back,  where  the  walls  of  the  two  buildings  came  to- 
gether. A  week  ago  some  man  decided  to  open  an 
eating-place  there.  He  built  a  wall  of  boards  across 
the  front  of  this  crack,  set  in  a  door,  and  fitted  a  sash 
of  glass  window  panes  above  the  door.  Two  men  spent 
a  day  sawing  and  pounding  to  finish  the  inside.  Then 
a  family  moved  in.  Today  that  enterprising  restau- 
rant keeper  is  serving  hot  meals  on  tallies  set  in  a 
semicircle  extending  from  the  fish  market  to  our 
door.  His  patrons  are  many,  but  all  the  cooking  is 
done  in  this  tiny  house  built  in  the  crack  between 
our   home    and   the   fish    market. 

The  other  half  million  of  Canton's  inhabitants  live 
in  boats  on  the  river  which  borders  the  city  on  the 
south  and  southwest,  and  on  the  canals  that  cross  the 
citv   in   various  directions, 


Canton  from  Day  to  Day 


THE    BOAT   PEOPLE 


117 


The  boat  people  are  always  very  interesting  to  me. 
Each  boat  is  a  complete  home  in  itself,  supplied  with 
all  that  is  required  for  this  mode  of  life.  These 
folk  make  their  living  by  carrying  passengers  and 
merchandise,   and  are   rarely  seen   on   land   except  when 


HOUSE-BOAT   BOYS    IIAVIXG    THEIR    PICTTJEE    TAKEN 


they  go   ashore   to   purchase   necessities   for   their   simple 
mode   of   life. 

The  river  before  our  house  is  fringed  with  a  border 
of  house-boats  and  sampans  at  all  times  of  day,  and 
more  deeply  bordered  at  night.  The  inhabitants  of 
these  boats  are  our  nearest  neighbors  on  the  water- 
ward  side  of  the  street,  and  very  interesting  neighbors 
they  are. 


©  U.  &  U.,  N.  Y. 

HARBOR  OF  CANTON  —  JUNKS  IN  THE  OFFING 

118 


Canton  from  t)ay  to  Day  119 

Just  below  the  landing  place  in  front  lies  a  small, 
dirty  boat  tied  up  to  a  long  pole  thrust  into  a  spot 
of  sandy  beach.  That  is  a  local  ferry.  The  woman 
sits  under  a  broad  bamboo  hat,  balancing  the  boat 
with  the  big  oar  at  the  rear  as  her  passengers  step  in. 
When  the  boat  is  full,  she  will  pull  up  the  pole,  drag 
in  the  chain,  and  scull  across  to  the  other  side.  Each 
passenger  will  pay  five  cash,  equal  to  about  one  fourth 
of    an   American    cent,    for   his   passage. 

A  house-boat  next  the  wharf  is  fairly  alive  with 
children  climbing  over  its  top  and  sides  and  hanging 
over  the  deck.  One  expects  to  see  a  tot  tumble  into 
the  water  at  any  moment.  In  this  place  the  boats  lie 
so  closely  together  that  one  wonders  if,  should  a  child 
fall  in,  there  would  be  room  for  it  to  rise  again  to 
the  surface.  One  tiny  maiden  with  freshly  plaited  hair 
tied  with  a  quantity  of  pink  cord,  wears  a  wooden  float 
dangling  on  her  back  as  a  precaution  against  just 
such  an  accident.  If  she  falls  in,  the  float  will  buoy 
her  up  to  the  surface  till  she  can  be  fished  out.  The 
weest  one  of  all  is  fastened  in  a  rattan  gocart  from 
which  he  is  struggling  to  get  free.  His  spunky  cries 
will  soon  bring  some  one  to  his  release.  Probably  he 
then  will  be  bound  on  the  back  of  an  older  sister  or 
brother,  and  so  be  carried  about  to  join  them  in  their 
play. 

The  boatwoman  dips  up  a  bucket  of  yellow  water 
from  the  stream  to  wash  the  rice  and  vegetables.  The 
rice  will  be  boiled  and  the  tea  brewed  with  part  of 
the  same  earth-tinged  water.  Boiled  rice,  with  some 
greens  and  a  piece  of  salt  fish  the  man  has  just 
brought  from  the  market,  will  make  a  satisfactory 
breakfast   for  this  sampan   family.      The   chickens   con- 


Canton  from  Day  to  Day  121 

fined  in  a  tiny  basketwork  coop  on  the  roof  at  the 
rear,  cackle  noisily.  Judging  from  the  fuss  they  make, 
one  can  well  believe  they  are  doing  their  best  toward 
supplying  the  family  with  fresh  eggs  wliile  each  waits 
its    turn    to    be   served    at    a    feast. 

Meanwhile,  the  boat  is  being  scrubbed  as  prepara- 
tions for  breakfast  go  on.  The  mother  touches  fire 
to  the  few  sticks  of  incense,  and  sets  them  in  the 
bow  of  the  boat.  Some  more  of  the  smoking  incense 
sticks  are  set  before  the  wooden  idol  in  the  family 
shrine  at  the  stern.  Thus  the  day  begins,  and  it 
will  be  closed  with  worship  of  the  spirits  or  demons 
the    boat    people    fear. 

A  few  paces  farther  on  an  old  worn-out  house-boat 
rests  on  the  river  bank.  The  broken  hulk  is  barely 
able  to  support  the  rickety,  arched  frame  over  which 
has  been  spread  a  tattered  piece  of  matting  for  a  roof. 
Inside  is  a  bunch  of  straw  covered  with  several 
worn-out  garments  for  a  bed.  Two  cracked  bowls, 
a  teapot  and  a  cup,  a  pair  of  chopsticks,  and  a  black- 
ened cooking  utensil  resting  on  a  tiny  clay  stove,  are 
the    only   other    furnishings    in    sight. 

This  boat  is  a  sampan  home  for  the  aged.  Here 
a  little  old  woman  sits  on  her  heels,  her  long,  lean 
arms  hanging  over  her  bony  knees.  The  boat  people 
give  her  a  smile  and  a  filial  greeting  as  they  go  by. 
Often  a  kindly  hand  passes  out  a  tasty  bit  of  relish, 
a  bunch  of  fresh  spinach  or  mustard  leaves,  or  a 
more  nourishing  portion  from  the  giver's  own  allow- 
ance of  food. 

What  else  could  be  done  for  an  aged  sampan 
woman?  She  has  lived  all  her  life  in  a  boat,  and 
could   not  now  be  happy  in  a  house  on  shore.     Prob- 


Canton  from  Day  to  Day  123 

ably  her  children  have  done  the  best  possible  thing 
they  could  do  for  her  —  to  leave  her  sitting  here  quietly 
to  dream  over  again  the  scenes  of  her  active  life  in  the 
old  boat. 

On  a  pile  of  stones  under  the  shade  of  a  tree  a 
group  of  girls  have  gathered,  perhaps  to  chat  about  a 
new  bracelet  one  of  them  wears.  Or  perhaps  they 
are  talking  about  the  new  suits  they  are  making  for 
the  coming  dragon-boat  festival.  One  rests  her  head 
on  another's  shoulder,  and  affectionately  strokes  her 
hand.  Another  pair  entwine  their  arms  in  the  school- 
girl fashion  of  our  Western  lands.  I  suppose  none 
of  them  can  read,  but  a  look  into  their  bright  faces 
convinces  one  that  it  is  not  because  they  could  not 
learn. 

Do  you  not  think  we  ought  to  teach  the  gospel 
to  these  neighbors  of  ours,  and  not  only  to  these,  but 
to  all  the  millions  of  boat  people  living  wherever 
water   flows   in   China? 

THE    LANDWARD    SIDE    OF    OUR    STREET 

The  landward  side  of  our  street  along  Pearl  River 
is  lined  with  business  places.  Most  of  these  are  also 
the  homes  of  the  men  employed  in  them  through 
the  day.  In  the  small  shops  the  place  of  business 
is  always  the  home.  For  instance,  observe  the  basket 
factory  at  the  rear  of  our  house.  Through  the  day 
its  wide  ground  floor  is  occupied  in  basket  weaving. 
Piles  of  splint,  willow,  and  rattan  are  heaped  about, 
and  there  are  stacks  of  finished  baskets  in  every  corner. 
Nothing  about  the  place  is  in  any  way  homelike  dur- 
ing work  hours.  But  when  the  day's  work  is  done, 
these  materials  are  stowed  away,  chairs  and  stools   are 


124 


A'Chu  and   Other  Stories 


brought  out  into  the  big  room,  and  the  table  is  set 
for  the  evening  meal.  When  night  conies,  beds  are 
set  up  for  the  men,  who  eat  and  sleep  in  the  room 
where  they  have  worked  through  the  day,  while  the 
women  retire  to  their  rooms  in  the  loft  for  the  night. 


ARTIFICIAL    GROTTOES    IN    A    TEA    GARDEN,    CHANGSHA 

The  houses  we  pass   along  this  side  of   the   street   are 
in   general   character   like   the   basket   factory. 

In  that  section  where  the  street  is  broadened  by 
a  turn  in  the  river,  mat  sheds  have  been  erected  in 
the  open  space.  Some  of  these  mat-covered  structures 
are  simply  open  booths  occupied  as  restaurants,  but  by 
far  the  greater  number  are  closed  in  all  around,  leav- 
ing   no    openings    except    small    squares    for    windows 


Canton  from  Day   to  Day  125 

above  the  height  of  a  man's  head  and  an  entrance  on 
one  side.  Through  this  entrance  to  the  various  huts 
an  almost  constant  stream  of  men  and  boys  is  pass- 
ing in  and  out.  The  click,  click  of  metal  and  the 
clack,  clack  of  bone  mingled  with  noisy  and  angry 
voices  vt^ithin,  indicate  that  these  are  gambling  booths. 
At  this  early  hour,  before  the  day's  work  has  begun, 
these  places  are  thronged.  Outside,  groups  of  men  sit 
on  mats  here  and  there,  eagerly  engaged  in  this  na- 
tional  vice. 

Near  by  is  another  stand  where  dice  are  shaken 
to  win  rice-flour  pancakes  baked  by  the  man  at  the 
griddle.  At  a  stand  iust  bevond.  a  wheel  of  fortune 
is  the  drawing  attraction.  Conserves  of  fruit,  nuts,  gin- 
ger-root, and  other  sweetmeats  are  the  prizes  offered  to 
lucky  players.  The  latter  place  is  especially  attrac- 
tive to  young  boys.  The  boy  who  is  lucky  in  winning 
pancakes  and  sweetmeats  is  almost  certain  to  grow  up 
an  inveterate  gambler,  and  gambling  in  China  leads  to 
poverty,    degradation,    and    crime. 

A   BRIGHT   SPOT 

A  ten  minutes'  walk  brings  us  to  the  entrance  of 
the  garden,  where  long  rows  of  flowering  plants  are 
drinking  in  the  morning  dew  and  sun.  There  are  the 
showy  dragon  flowers  in  brilliant  scarlet  clusters;  long 
ferns;  cool  palms;  and  the  dainty  bak  yuk  lam  (a 
dwarf  species  of  magnolia)  perfuming  all  the  air  with 
the  fragrance  of  its  white,  waxen  buds  tucked  under 
the  dark,  glossy  leaves.  There,  most  beautiful  of  all, 
are  the  white  lotus  plants,  folding  and  unfolding  their 
ample  leaves  to  the  play  of  the  passing  breeze  and 
nodding  graceful  heads  of  snowy  flowers.     It  is  a  de- 


126  AXhu  and  Other  Stories 

lightful   prospect    in    contrast    with    the   scenes    of    the 
street  through  which  we  have  just  passed. 

SADDER  SIGHTS 

As  our  steps  quicken,  a  peculiar  sound  attracts  our 
attention  toward  the  other  side  of  the  street.  There 
on  a  pile  of  wet  logs  are  crouched  nine  wretched 
lepers,  holding  out  brown  earthen  dishes  in  which  to 
receive  either  cash  or  food  to  eke  out  the  existence  of 
their  poor,  decaying  bodies,  literally  falling  to  pieces 
as  they  walk  on  their  feet.  Two  are  women,  seven 
are  men,  and  none  of  them  are  old.  Several  of  them 
have  lost  parts  of  their  feet,  and  have  only  crippled 
stubs  on  which  to  hobble  about.  Others  have  so  little 
of  the  hands  left  that  both  are  required  to  hold  the 
dish.  In  other  cases  the  hands  are  whole  but  red 
and  swollen,  while  a  part  of  the  face  —  the  nose,  an 
ear,  or  a  lip  —  is  gone.  Their  soiled  and  scanty 
clothing  is  not  sufficient  to  conceal  their  "  wounds,  and 
bruises,  and  putrefying  sores."  Having  attracted  our 
attention,  they  all  hold  out  their  brown  dishes,  beg- 
ging, "  Cumsha !  "  ^ 

A  few  steps  away  sits  another  victim  of  disease,  lean- 
ing his  thin  body  against  a  pile  of  old  timbers  taken 
from  the  embankment  along  the  river's  edge.  His 
shrunken  limbs  stretched  out  upon  the  mat  bed  dis- 
played his  feet,  thick  and  swollen.  At  his  side  lies  a 
bamboo  hat  and  the  beggar's  brown  dish.  He  says 
nothing,  —  only  looks  from  glassy  black  eyes  set  in 
sunken   sockets. 

Perhaps  some  friend  has  placed  him  here  for  the 
benefit    of    the    morning   sun.      Remembering    that    our 


'The  word  "cumsha"  is  a  corruption  of  Kam  Sha,  or  Gold  Sand. 
It  means  not  a  large  gift,  as  represented  by  a  gold  coin,  but  a  small 
gift,  or  grain  of  gold. 


Canton  from  Day  to  Day 


127 


good  intentions  had  been  looked  upon  with  suspicion 
on  some  other  occasions  when  we  had  offered  aid  un- 
asked, we  feel  compelled  to  pass  on  and  leave  him. 
Later  in  the  day  I  passed  that  way  again,  for  his 
eyes  haunted  me.  He  was  still  there.  As  there  were 
but  few  persons  then  in  the  street,  I  went  nearer  and 
inquired,    "You    are    ill?" 


©  U.  &  U.,  N.  Y. 

A    SEDAN    CHAIR    BIDE    IN    THE    HILLS    NEAE   HONGKONG 

The  gentleman  in  the  chair  is  an  American  consul. 


128  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

"  Very  ill,"  he  replied  in  a  hollow  voice,  reaching 
for   the   brown   dish. 

Hot  soup  is  what  he  needs,  I  thought.  With  a 
promise  to  come  back  soon,  I  started  for  a  near-by 
eating-house,  thinking  it  wiser  to  purchase  hot  food 
for  the  sick  man  there,  than  to  bring  it  from  my  own 
home,  lest,  in  case  he  should  die,  suspicion  point  to 
the  missionary  foreign-woman's  food.  No  rice  or  hot 
soup  could  be  had  at  that  hour.  Bread  seemed  to  be 
the  only  food  available.  I  took  him  a  loaf,  but  a 
shade  of  disappointment  passed  over  the  pale  face  as 
his  trembling  hands  reached  for  the  cold  bread.  Next 
day  he  was  not  there,  but  the  piece  of  matting  lying 
just  as  it  was  before,  the  battered  hat,  and  the  empty 
brown   dish   gave   the   clue. 

"  He  passed  over  last  night,"  the  man  at  the  shop 
across  the  way  replied  to  my  inquiry.  "  I  saw  you 
give  him  bread;  I  gave  him  some  tea,  but  he  was  too 
ill  to  eat."  With  his  foot  he  brushed  aside  the  pa- 
per wrapping  to  show  that  but  a  morsel  had  been 
taken  from  the  loaf.  And  so  the  man  had  died  without 
knowing  a  Saviour,  alone,   in  the  street,   and   at  night. 

Some  weeks  before  this  our  United  States  consul 
at  Canton  had  made  an  appeal  to  the  kind  people 
of  America  in  behalf  of  the  famine  sufferers  of  Kiangsi 
Province.  There  had  been  two  crop  failures  in  suc- 
cession. The  inhabitants  were  selling  for  almost  noth- 
ing their  cattle,  houses,  and  gardens,  yes,  even  their 
children  and  wives,  that  they  might  buy  food.  Chil- 
dren were  sold  for  slaves  at  five  cents  a  pound,  while 
rice  cost  thirty  cents.  People  were  starving  by  the 
cityful.  This  was  the  meaning  of  the  message  the 
consul    telegraphed    to    the    American    people.       Back 


Canton  from  Day   to  Day 


129 


over  the  wires  came  the  quick  reply  that  gave  more 
than  $5,000  gold  to  buy  them  food.  Boatloads  of 
rice  were  sent  up  the  river  to  those  suffering  people. 
Do  not  Christian  people  know  there  is  a  famine 
over  all  the  land  of  China?  Not  one  province  only, 
but  a  great  empire  of  four  hundred  million  souls  is 
suffering  from  this  famine.  This  is  not  a  famine 
for  bread,  but  the  starvation  of  a  great  nation,  having 
no  knowledge  of  God  in  the  world.  Not  all  the 
people  of  China  are  poor  and  sick  and  suffering,  as 
some  of  these  seen  on  this  street  in  Canton.  Back 
in  the  city  are  many  beautiful  homes,  where  gay  peo- 
ple live  in  luxury,  so  far  as  money  can  buy.  But 
poor  and  rich  alike  are  sharing  in  this  greater  famine 
for   the  word   of   God. 


A   CHBISTIAN   PROCESSION   IN    HEATHEN   CHINA 


HIGHEST    POINT    IN     CHINA'S     GREAT    WALL 


130 


ONE  HOUR  IN  A   NATIVE   VILLAGE 

THIS  one  hour  was  the  last  one  before  supper  time 
in  a  missionary's  home.  The  village  was  San-li-tien, 
one  hundred  miles  and  more  north  of  Hankow.  The 
name  sounds  more  like  directions  on  a  country  guide- 
board  than  the  name  of  a  village,  for  it  really  means 
"  three   li    from   the   city." 

When  the  missionary's  wife  remarked  that  there  was 
left  one  hour  before  supper,  and  asked  how  we  would 
like  to  spend  that  time,  a  walk  through  the  village 
was  proposed.  This  was  our  first  day  in  San-li-tien. 
A  tour  through  its  streets  would  give  us  a  general 
impression  of  the  place,  and  make  it  easier  to  fit  in 
the  details  as  we  became  acquainted  with  them  during 
our  stay.  In  this  way  we  hoped  to  get  in  mind  a  fairly 
complete  picture  of  a  Chinese  village  and  its  people. 

"  Very  well,"  replied  our  lady,  "  we  will  take  the 
children  with  us,  and  walk  around  the  village  inside 
the    wall." 

"  There  are  only  about  seventy  families  living  in 
the  village,"  she  explained,  as  we  passed  out  through 
the  rear  gate  of  the  crude  inclosure  around  the  mission 
premises. 

THE   MISSION    HOME 

What  was  now  the  mission  had  once  been  the  home 
of  a  well-to-do  family;  but  when  opium  smoking  came 
into  that  home,  prosperity  went  out.  Now  there  was 
left  only  one  son,  and  he  had  become  such  a  wreck 
that   even  a  Chinese  wife  could   not   live  with   him. 

When  the  missionary  was  looking  for  a  place  to  live, 
this  son,  the  owner,  rented  the  entire  premises  of  five 

131 


132 


A'Chu  and   Other  Stories 


or  six  houses  for  a  sum  barely  sufficient  to  supply 
the  little  food  he  required  and  to  pay  for  the  drug  he 
consumed.  All  the  houses  were  then  in  a  run-down 
condition,  but  now  that  the  missionary  had  mended  the 
mud-brick  walls,  patched  the  roofs,  and  whitewashed 
the  rooms  inside,  there  was  a  house  for  a  boys' 
school  and  chapel,  one  for  a  girls'  school,  and  one  for 


BEPAIRIJNG    HOUSE    FOB    A    MISSION    HOME 

a    home    for    his    Christian    helpers,    besides    two    small 
houses  adjoining  each   other  for  the  missionary's  home. 


VIEW   FROM   THE   VILLAGE    WALL 

Climbing  a  stone  stairway  to  the  top  of  the  village 
wall,  we  discovered  another  village,  unwalled,  lying 
to  the  east.  This  second  village  was  separated  from 
San-li-tien  by  a  running  brook.  On  the  other  side, 
to  the  west,  was  a  wide,  sandy  river  bed  through  which. 


One  Hour  in  a  Native   Villagt 


133 


in  this  dry  season,  there  ran  only  a  narrow,  silvery 
stream  gathered  from  a  distant  line  of  hazy  blue  moun- 
tains. Beyond,  across  the  sandy  strip,  lay  the  city  of 
Sin-yang-chow,    three    li    (one   mile)    away. 


CITY  WALL  AND  GATE  AT  WAICHOW,   SOUTH   CHINA 

The  surrounding  plain,  as  far  as  could  be  seen,  was 
dotted  with  brown  patches  outlined  by  hedges  of 
nodding  bamboo.  These  patches  marked  the  sites  of 
other  villages.  They  occurred  in  surprising  numbers, 
for  we  were  at  the  border  of  the  great  central   plain 


134  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

of  China,  which  stretches  hundreds  of  miles  north- 
easterly,  to   the   capital   city   of    Peking   and    beyond. 

Descending  by  a  gradual  path,  we  were  again  in  the 
street  leading  around  the  village,  inside  its  wall.  Not 
a  clean-kept,  paved  street  —  you  must  not  imagine  a 
street  lined  with  green  lawns  dotted  with  flower  beds, 
but  a  narrow  space  between  the  wall  and  the  dwellings, 
irregular  in  width,  uneven  of  surface,  with  the  shabby 
look   of   a   neglected   back  alley. 

On  our  left  was  the  village  wall.  From  the  inside 
the  ascent  to  the  top  of  the  wall  is  quite  gradual.  It 
consists  of  stones,  old  brick,  broken  pottery,  and  other 
hard  substances  mixed  with  earth  and  banked  against 
a  well-built  wall  of  grayish-brown  stone.  Above  this 
is  a  crown  of  gray  brick  rising  some  six  feet  higher. 
At  regular  intervals,  square  holes  are  left  in  the  wall 
for  the  use  of  guns. 

From  the  outside  this  wall  rises  perpendicularly,  with 
a  solid  stone  front  thirty  or  forty  feet  in  height,  and 
completely  hides  the  village  homes  from  the  plain. 
The  traveler  must  enter  through  one  of  the  gates,  and 
before  nine  o'clock  at  night,  unless  he  has  made  previous 
arrangement  with  the  watchman  at  the  big  gate  to  let 
him   in;  otherwise  he  will   find   himself  shut   out. 

THE   VILLAGE   HOMES 

On  our  right  were  the  village  homes,  just  dropped 
down  anywhere  the  owner  chose  to  build  them.  There 
were  paths  winding  between  the  houses,  and  sometimes 
a  patch  of  greens  growing  at  the  rear,  but  no  neat 
dooryards  at  the  front.  The  only  line  that  could  be 
called  a  street  was  the  cart  road  through  the  village. 
Stubborn  patches  of  snow  crouched   here  and   there   in 


One  Hour  in  a  Native  Village 


135 


spots  out  of  reach  of  the  sun  and  wind,  and  a  keen, 
chilling  breeze  cut  across  our  cheeks  in  spite  of  the 
bright   sunshine. 

"  An  old  woman  used  to  live  here  alone.  I  wonder 
if  she  is  still  here,"  said  the  missionary  woman,  stopping 
before  a  poor  hovel. 

The  walls  had  been  built  of  reed  stalks  plastered 
with  mud,  which  now  had  begun  to  crumble,  leaving 
rents  in  the  ga- 
bles under  the 
eaves.  There 
was  no  pretense 
of  a  window,  but 
the  thatched  roof, 
as  if  in  pity  for 
the  dreary  room 
below,  had  parted 
here  and  there, 
letting  in  golden  beams  of  sunshine.  The  entrance 
was  closed  by  two  rickety  doors  shut  together  and 
fastened  with  a  hay  string  tied  to  the  latch  and  wound 
about  a  bamboo  pole  long  enough  to  reach  the  wall  at 
either  side.  Though  closed  and  locked,  the  doors  were 
too  badly  broken  to  hide  the   empty  desolation  within. 

No  one  was  at  home.  Only  the  grim  doorkeepers 
were  left  to  guard  against  the  entrance  of  unfriendly 
spirits.  These  doorkeepers  were  pictures  painted  in 
strong  colors  —  red,  blue,  purple,  black,  and  yellow  — 
on  sheets  of  tough  paper  and  tacked  to  the  door.  They 
represented  fierce-looking  warriors  with  very  big  teeth 
and  heavy  clubs  lifted  threateningly. 

Several  doors  farther  on  we  found  the  old  woman 
standing  before  the  home  of  her  son.     At  sight  of  the 


MAT  HOUSES 


136  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

missionary  woman,  a  broad  smile  broke  over  the 
wrinkled  brown  face.  She  came  forward,  begging  us  to 
turn  in.  "  Come  in,  ladies,  come  in,  sit  awhile,"  she 
repeated  rapidly,  each  call  growing  louder  and  higher 
as  we  made  excuse.  At  this  three  other  women  came 
out.  Each  one  in  turn  gruffly  jerked  out  the  snappy 
invitation,  "  Come  in  and  sit,"  then  turned  about  and 
laughed  as  if  it  were  a  joke. 

"  Yes,  do  let  us  go  in,"  I  said. 

We  entered  through  the  spread  doors,  past  the  hideous 
doorkeepers  set,  as  in  all  homes  of  the  village,  on  each 
side  of  the  entrance. 

THE   VISIT 

The  women  on  stumpy,  bound  feet  politely  hovered 
about,  attentive  to  see  us  seated  in  the  best  chairs. 
They  made  an  ado  over  the  children,  gave  them  tiny 
sticks  of  barley-sugar  candy  covered  with  nutty  seeds, 
New  Year  cakes,  and  sweetmeats  of  preserved  fruits. 

When  all  proper  ceremony  had  been  observed,  the 
four  women  perched  on  a  long,  slim-legged  bench, 
sitting  in  a  row  with  hands  drawn  up  under  the  sleeves 
of  their  cotton  padded  garments.  At  the  call  of  one  of 
them  an  attendant  brought  an  earthen  pot  shaped  like 
a  flower  basket  with  a  handle  over  the  top.  This 
contained  burning  charcoal.  It  was  offered  to  the  vis- 
itors first,  but  as  the  missionary  assured  them  we  were 
comfortably  warm,  they  began  to  make  use  of  this 
tiny  stove  themselves.  Sometimes  it  was  held  to  warm 
their  hands,  and  sometimes  it  was  set  on  the  earthen 
floor  to  warm  their  bound  feet.  It  was  passed  along  the 
line  when  called  for,  and  no  one  seemed  to  feel  a  bit 
modest  about  calling  when  she  desired  its  use. 


One  Hour  in  a  Native  Village  137 

Word  had  gone  round  that  •  the  foreign  women  were 
out  calling,  and  soon  the  neighbors  came  flocking  in  till 
the  room  was  full  and  all  the  ''  look-see  "  space  before 
the  door  was  occupied.  The  women  brought  their 
children  with  them,  some  on  their  backs,  some  in  their 
arms,  and  others  clinging  to  their  garments.  A  few 
stopped  only  long  enough  to  take  a  look,  but  others 
remained  to  follow  after  us. 

On  occasions  of  such  calls  there  is  no  telling  to  what 
their  questions  will  lead  nor  where  they  will  end  if 
these  women  have  their  way. 

"Where  did  you  get  that  coat?  How  much  did  it 
cost?  Did  you  make  it  yourself?"  one  woman  asked. 
At  this  others  began  to  examine  the  garment  and  to 
make    remarks. 

"  It  certainly  is  strong  cloth,"  said  one. 

"  It  must  have  been  made  in  an  outside  country. 
We  Chinese  do  not  make  such  cloth,"  remarked  another. 

"Look  at  the  sewing!  "  sneered  a  particular  matron. 
"  It  must  have  been  stitched  by  one  of  those  foreign 
machines." 

"  No,  no ;  but  those  foreign  machines  do  sew  quickly 
and   well,"   protested   a   m^ore    liberal   spirit. 

Somewhere  in  the  conversation  they  asked  how  old 
the  new  foreign  woman  was,  and  why  she  and  her  child 
did  not  have  black  hair  like  theirs  —  all  with  one 
question  mark.  They  did  not  fail  to  contrast  the  style 
of  the  newcomer's  garments  with  the  dress  of  the  mis- 
sionary, who  wore  native  costume,  nor  to  remark  how 
much  better  the  missionary  looked.  From  the  appear- 
ance of  her  hair,  as  contrasted  with  their  own  smoothly 
patted  and  pasted-down  locks,  they  judged  it  had  not 
been  combed  for  two  weeks. 


138  J'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

"  Look  at  those  leather  shoes !  Is  it  not  astonishing 
to  see  a  woman  wearing  such  heavy  things!"  came 
from  a  woman  peeking  through  the  crowd  at  the  door. 

We  were  out  to  learn,  and  our  missionary  had  prom- 
ised to  interpret  faithfully  the  remarks  of  the  village 
folk.  Before  this  first  call  was  over,  we  began  to 
realize  that  in  the  eyes  of  these  women,  foreigners  are 
not  greatly  superior  people. 

INSIDE   THE    HOME 

At  another  home  fewer  women  came  in,  and  I  had  an 
opportunity  to  observe  things  about  the  house.  This 
was  a  better  home  than  the  one  where  we  first  stopped. 
Like  most  of  the  others,  the  house  was  built  of  large 
mud  brick,  pressed  and  dried  in  the  sun.  Like  the 
others,  it  was  sheltered  by  a  thatched  straw  roof.  But 
this  house  had  a  window  in  every  room,—  not  big, 
bright  glass  windows  looking  out  on  the  street,  but 
curious  little  windows  made  of  a  tough  waxed  paper 
spread  over  wooden  frames  divided  into  small  squares. 
These  were  set  high  in  the  walls.  Inquisitive  persons  on 
the  outside  could  not  look  in,  nor  could  curious  dwellers 
on  the  inside  look  out,  for  these  windows  were  not 
transparent. 

Though  the  paper  windows  let  in  light,  no  sunbeams 
ever  crept  into  this  home,  except  those  that  came 
through  the  door.  Fortunately,  the  doors  are  seldom 
closed  except  at  night  or  on  stormy  days,  for  these  people 
depend  on  sunshine  for  warmth. 

There  were  no  floors  of  any  kind,  but  the  earth  was 
beaten  smooth,  and  had  been  lately  swept  and  sprinkled 
with  water  to  prevent  dust.  The  interior  was  divided 
into    three    rooms    by    partitions    constructed    of    open 


One  Hour  in  a  Native  Village 


139 


basketwork  of  bamboo  splints,  and  neatly  papered  with 
light-brown  paper.  The  sitting-room  had  a  ceiling  over- 
head of  the  same  device.  Over  the  other  rooms  were 
only  the  smoked  rafters  and  the  dusty,  brown,  thatched 
grass   roof. 

At  the  end  toward  the  right  was  the  kitchen,  all  its 
contents  in  plain  sight  from  where  I  sat.  There  in  one 
corner  stood  several  very  large  brown  water  jars,  and 
near  them  a  pair  of  heavy  wooden  buckets,  and  the 
bamboo  poles  by  which  these  were  swung  from  the 
shoulder  when  the   big  water  jars  must   be  filled. 

The  cookstove  was  built  of  red  brick  set  with  firm 
mortar,  and  shaped  in  the  form  of  a  hollow  cube.  In 
its  top  was  a  round  fire  hole  fitted  with  a  broad,  shallow 
iron  pan.     This  pan  was  the  principal  family  cooking 


A    CHINESE    PEDDLER 

Hear  him  calling:  "Buy  bottles,  broken  glass,  old  brass, 
iron,  and  stones  in  exchange  for  salted  peanuts!"  His 
mode  of  carrying  his  baskets  is  the  same  as  the  water 
carriers  use  —  on  a  pole  across  the  shoulders. 


140  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

utensil.  The  fuel  used  in  such  stoves  consists  of 
twisted  straw  or  dry  grass,  stalks  of  all  kinds  gathered 
from  field,  marsh,  or  hill,  small  branches  which  may  be 
cut  from  growing  trees,  and  on  rare  occasions,  wood 
from  the  trunks  of  cut-down  trees;  and  it  is  fed  through 
an  open  hole  at  the  back  of  the  stove.  There  is  no  pipe 
to  conduct  the  smoke  to  the  open  flue  in  the  roof,  so  most 
of  it  drifts  through  the  house  to  the  outside  by  any  open- 
ing it  finds. 

In  every  home  will  be  found  the  kitchen  god  set  to 
watch  over  the  preparation  of  foods.  He  hears  all  the 
cross  words  and  disappointed  complainings.  Before  the 
year  is  over  he  gets  badly  grimed  with  kitchen  smoke. 
Lest  he  report  the  wrong  things  to  which  he  has  been 
a  witness,  his  mouth  is  smeared  and  sealed  with  a 
very  sticky,  sweet  sirup  before  he  is  burned  and  in 
this  way  passes  into  the  spirit  world  at  the  end  of  the 
year.  The  god  of  this  kitchen  was  still  smiling,  bright 
and  clean,  for  the  New  Year  was  not  yet  a  month  old. 

In  these  homes  the  ordinary  bed  consists  of  a  number 
of  boards  of  suitable  length  nailed  to  crosswise  strips 
of  wood  to  hold  them  together.  This  rests  at  the  head 
and  foot  upon  benches  or  tiers  of  bricks.  A  mat  of 
skin  or  quilted  cotton  is  spread  on  the  boards,  and 
with  another  piece  for  a  covering  and  a  cube  of  china- 
ware   for  a  pillow  the   bed   is   complete. 

The  sitting-room  occupied  the  middle  portion  of  the 
house  where  we  were  calling.  Its  walls  and  ceiling 
had  been  freshly  papered.  The  place  was  tidy  and 
much  fresher  and  cleaner  than  might  have  been  ex- 
pected of  a  room  next  to  the  kitchen  with  its  daily 
smokes.  But  this  was  at  the  season  of  the  Chinese 
New  Year,  and  every  loyal-hearted  Chinaman  will  shave 


One  Hour  in  a  Native  Village  141 

his  head,  wash  his  clothes,  and  clean  his  house  for  this 
festival,   whether   he   does   so   at   other   times   or   not. 

The  sitting-room  was  furnished  with  a  pair  of  guest 

chairs  set  at  either  side  of  a  high  table,   a  few  stools, 

high  and  low,  and  two  benches,  like 

i     fhose    shown    in    the    picture    below. 


ABOUND    THE   BICE    BOWL 

At  one  side  of  the  room  was  the  ancestral  altar, 
a  piece  of  furniture  present  in  all  Chinese  homes 
where  the  gospel  is  not  believed.  At  the  other  side 
was   the   best   piece    of    furniture   the   house   contained, 

—  a  tall  chiffonier  very  well  made  of  beautiful  hard 
wood.  In  its  deep  drawers  and  on  its  shelves  one 
may   expect   to   find    all   the   family's   choicest   treasures 

—  perhaps  some  jade  bracelets  and  silver  ornaments 
for  the  women.  Neatly  folded  in  one  drawer  may  lie 
an  embroidered  skirt  and  a  bright  silk  tunic,  worn  by 
all  the  brides  in  the  family  for   four  generations,   and 


142 


A'Chu  a?id  Other  Stories 


now  waiting  to  serve  once  again  on  the  bridal  day 
of  the  unmarried  daughter.  There,  too,  will  be  found 
the  bright  new  garments  that  have  kept  the  village 
tailors  and  women  of  the  house  busy  for  days  before 
the  New  Year  time,  together  with  gay  caps  for  the 
children   and   those   odd   bonnets   the  women   wear. 

One    might    not    suspect    how    many     really    pretty 
and  dainty  things  lie  smoothly  folded  and  packed   away 


RICE    hiiAAJ    A.ND    COUNTRY    VILLAGE 


behind  those  bronze  locks.  But  on  holidays  and  when 
the  theater  players  come  to  town,  the  women  and  girls 
flock  out  from  these  mud  houses  as  fresh  and  bright  as 
the  swallows  that  flit  from  their  mud  homes  in  the 
chimney. 

These   people   are   not   poor   because   they   have   very 
little  money  and   live  in  mud   houses,   nor  shiftless   be- 


Ojie  Hour  in  a  Native  Village  143 

cause  they  take  time  to  play  with  their  babies  and  to 
chat  with  the  neighbors.  The  rich  fields  outside  the 
village  walls  are  tilled  like  gardens,  and  yield  two  crops 
a  year  of  all  that  is  necessary  for  food.  Their  simple 
clothing  is  made  principally  of  homespun  cotton  cloth. 
They  are  not  bothered  by  changing  fashions.  Beyond 
simple  food  and  plain  clothes,  they  have  need  of  little. 
Contentment  adds  length  of  days  to  the  joy  of   living. 

As  we  passed  on  through  the  village,  we  were  every- 
where met  with  a  friendly  invitation  to  come  in  and  sit 
or  drink  tea.  Their  cordiality  reminded  us  of  the 
hospitality  described  in  the  Old  Testament  —  of  Abra- 
ham who  went  forth  from  the  door  of  his  tent  to 
entreat  the  three  strangers  to  enter  his  home  and  eat 
at  his  table. 

There  is  no  hurry  or  bustle  about  this  village  of 
China.  Men  walk  leisurely  and  take  time  to  bow 
politely.  Children  are  not  in  danger  of  being  trampled 
upon  nor  the  aged   of   being  jostled   in   the  way. 

SHARING   THEIR   QUARTERS 

Pigs  wander  about  at  pleasure  or  lie  in  sheltered 
spots,  warming  themselves  in  the  sunshine.  It  is  no 
uncommon  sight  to  see  the  mother  of  a  litter  of  young 
pigs  lying  before  the  house,  while  her  family  scamper 
in  and  out  through  the  door  as  freely  as  the  owner's 
children.  At  one  place  we  saw  growing  pigs  quietly 
sleeping  on  the  floor  in  the  room  where  a  mother  and 
her  pretty  daughters  sat  engaged  on  some  dainty  em- 
broidery. 

Chickens  have  their  roosts  and  nests  in  cages  in- 
side the  door,  and  enjoy  the  liberty  of  the  house 
with   the   family.      Every   family   tries   to    raise   enough 


144 


A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 


chickens,    ducks,    or    geese    to    supply    the    requirements 
of   the  year's   feasts,    and    at   least   one   pig.      These   are 


STREET    IN    A    CHINESE    CITY 


treated    as   members   of   the   family   till   the   day   comes 

when    a   particular    one   is    to    be    served    at    the    feast. 

Now    and    then    we   passed    a    meek-eyed    donkey    let 

out    to    rest    awhile.      Poor    things!      They    were    not 


One  Hour  in  a  Native   Village  145 

too  well  fed,  and  looked  quite  tired  out;  but  our  mis- 
sionary advised  that  if  we  felt  inclined  to  show  sym- 
pathy for  a  donkey,  we  would  better  express  it  to  his 
face,  for  so  long  as  he  is  not  dead,  there  is  no  safety 
at  his  heels. 

Although  the  animals  shared  life  with  its  people, 
the  village  was  not  so  dirty  as  one  might  expect. 
Perhaps  this  is  partly  because  the  thrifty  farmers 
search  the  place,  and  carry  of?  in  baskets  the  bodies  of 
dead  animals  and  fowls,  or  anything  else  that  can  be 
used   as  fertilizer  on  their  fields. 

A   WAYSIDE  SHRINE 

In  an  angle  of  the  village  wall  we  found  an  idol 
shrine.  We  were  told  by  the  keeper  that  it  was 
built  by  a  wealthy  widow.  No  doubt  this  was  done 
as  an  act  of  merit  by  which  she  hoped  to  gain  a  higher 
life  in  the  spirit  world  than  she  might  otherwise 
have  attained.  It  was  a  little  house  of  brick,  with 
a  green-glazed  tile  roof.  Inside  was  a  painted  image 
of  Buddha,  the  Indian  prince,  represented  here  in 
China  with  an  Indian  face.  On  each  side  of  the 
idol  were  Chinese  figures  of  females  in  waiting,  and 
in  front  a  table  was  set  to  receive  offerings  of  tea, 
cakes,  flowers,  or  whatever  its  worshipers  might  bring. 
Suspended  from  the  ceiling  above  the  table  hung  a 
lighted  spiral  coil  that  filled  the  place  with  the  smoke 
of   its   incense. 

To  such  helpless  places  as  this  shrine  do  weary  hearts 
come  for  rest  and  the  sad  for  comfort,  for  no  one 
has  yet  taught  them  the  love  of  Jesus.  There  are  a 
number  of  small  shrines  like  this  one  within  the  vil- 
lage walls,  but  the  temple  is  in  the  other  village. 
10 


146  AXhu  and  Other  Stories 

RICE    AND    FLOUR    MILLS 

At  the  crossing  of  the  principal  street  near  one  of 
the  gates  was  a  mill  for  hulling  rice.  I  was  sur- 
prised  to   see   the   grain   a   dark   creamy   tint,    but   was 


©  u.  &  u.,  t\.   \. 

PRI]MnmE    GRIST    MILL 

Country  Homes  in  the  Background 

told  that  the  Chinese  in  these  parts  do  not  follow 
the  practice  of  polishing  their  rice,  as  they  consider 
unbleached    rice    more    nutritious. 

On   the   other   side   of   the    street   was    a    flour   mill 
very   much    like   the   mills   used    in   the   days   of   Jesus, 


One  Hour  in  a  Native  Village 


147 


and  of  which  he  spoke  when  he  said,  "  Two  women 
shall  be  grinding  at  the  mill;  the  one  shall  be  taken, 
and  the  other  left."  The  grinding  apparatus  con- 
sists of  two  flat  stones,  one  resting  upon  the  other. 
These  stones  are  turned  by  hand  round  and  round. 
The  grains  fall  between  the  stones  through  a  square 
hole  cut  in  the  center  of  the  upper  one,  and  are 
ground   between   them.      The   wheat   is   passed    through 


GRINDING    FLOUR    WITH    WATER    BUFFALO 

the  mill  four  or  five  times  before  it  becomes  fine 
enough  for  flour.  It  is  then  sifted  through  large 
sieves  shaken  by  a  treadle.  Bread  baked  from  yes- 
terday's grist  at  this  mill  was  served  us  for  supper, 
and  we  thought  it  very  delicious,  but  the  missionaries 
are  glad  to  get  an  occasional  change  to  white  bread. 
The  wheat  is  threshed  in  the  fashion  of  Bible  times, 
by  beating  with  the  flail  on  the  threshing  floors  of 
smoothed    earth.      Some    of    the    grains    are    soiled    in 


148  J'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

threshing,  and  for  this  reason  the  wheat  must  be 
washed  before  grinding.  We  saw  a  large  quantity  of 
bright  golden  wheat  lying  spread  out  on  broad  bam- 
boo-splint trays  to  dry  in  the  sun  after  having  been 
thoroughly  washed.  There  are  larger  mills  in  the 
village,  where  the  stones  are  turned  by  donkeys  or  water 
buffalo  hitched  to  long  sweeps. 

BUNS     WHILE    YOU    WAIT 

Outside  the  mill  premises  a  man  was  baking  soft 
buns  in  a  little  iron  oven  heated  over  a  kettle  of  boil- 
ing water.  He  sold  them  as  fast  as  baked,  to  those 
who  passed  by.  The  natives  call  them  mo  mos,  and 
like  them   very   much. 

Another  variety  of  mo  itios  is  baked  in  tiny  dome- 
shaped  earthen  ovens.  As  we  observed,  the  dough  is 
prepared  in  the  same  way.  The  oven  is  heated  over 
a  pot  of  charcoal.  When  the  proper  temperature 
is  obtained,  the  dough  buns  are  sprinkled  with  a 
nutty  vegetable  seed,  and  with  a  ladle  are  pressed 
against  the  inside  walls  of  the  oven.  When  they 
have  become  brown,  a  slide  is  pushed  in  to  cover 
the  charcoal,  and  the  baking  goes  on  till  the  buns 
are  thoroughly  done,  when  they  cleave  from  the  oven, 
and  falling  on  this  slide,  are  drawn  out.  These  have 
a  crisp  crust,  and,  flavored  as  they  are  with  the  brown 
seeds,  make  a  palatable  bread.  The  Mohammedan 
Chinese,  who  detest  swine's  flesh,  use  them  freely,  since 
they  are  certain  to  contain  none  of  this  fat. 

A  WHEELBARROW  TRAIN 

While  watching  the  work  at  the  mill,  I  was  star- 
tled   by   a   dreadful   groaning,    screeching   sound    in    the 


One  Hour  in  a  Native   Village 


149 


direction  of  the  opposite  gate.  Surely,  I  thought, 
something  dreadful  has  happened.  No,  it  was  only 
the  noise  of  an  incoming  "  train  "  on  the  main  wheel- 
barrow line  from  Hankow,  which  follows  the  track  of 
this  paved  street  through  the  village.  Some  fifteen 
wheelbarrows,  with  broad  frames  piled  high  with  bolts 
of    cotton    cloth    and    other    articles    of     trade,     were 


STRINGS    OF    CHINESE    CASH    PIECES 

The  "  cash  "  is  the  common  current  coin  of  China.  It  is 
about  as  large  as  our  twenty-five-cent  piece,  with  a  square 
hole  in  the  center  for  stringing. 

pushed  past  us  and  out  the  gate  toward  the  near-by 
city.  At  the  side  of  the  train  was  a  line  of  men 
and  boys  carrying  strings  of  cash  pieces  over  their 
shoulders  and  around  their  necks.  It  looked  like  a 
*'  heap  o'  money  "  to  be  carried  about  openly  in  that 
way,  but  we  soon  learned  that  twenty  of  those  cash 
pieces   were  worth   but   one   United   States   cent.     The 


150  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

stone  pavement  has  been  cut  into  a  deep  furrow  in 
the  middle  of  the  street  by  the  passing  of  these 
loaded    wheelbarrow    trains. 

WAITING   TO    KNOW    THE    WAY 

One  more  call  was  made,  at  the  home  of  a  woman 
who  often  comes  to  the  mission  ''  to  listen  to  the 
singing,"  she  says.  In  this  way  she  has  heard  some 
Christian  teaching.  It  is  not  known  that  she  is 
seeking  to  know  the  Saviour,  but  only  that  she  comes 
almost  constantly  when  the  service  is  open  to  women. 
Seeing  us  pass  her  door,  she  would  not  be  refused, 
but  insisted  that  we  come  inside  "  to  rest."  Soon 
a  company  of  women  had  gathered  in  the  open  court 
between  the  two  houses  that  composed  her  home,  and 
were  listening  to  our  missionary,  who  improves  every 
opportunity  to  teach  them  of  the  one  true  God  who 
would    that   all   men   should    be   saved. 

At  our  own  gate  we  turned  to  say  good-by  to  the 
friendly  group  that  had  followed  us  home  to  the  mission. 

In  that  one  hour's  walk  through  a  native  village  I 
realized  a  new  meaning  in  these  words  of  our  Lord: 
"  Say  not  ye,  There  are  yet  four  months,  and  then 
Cometh  harvest?  behold,  I  say  unto  you,  Lift  up  your 
eyes,  and  look  on  the  fields;  for  they  are  white  al- 
ready to  harvest."  These  Chinese  people  seemed  so 
friendly,  as  if  only  waiting  for  a  teacher  to  show 
them    the    way    into    the    kingdom    of    God. 


Fortunes  of  the  Chang  Family 


i^* 


u 


A    CHINESE    GENTLEMAN 


152 


THE   SALT   MERCHANT'S   SON 

The  title  "  Fortunes  of  the  Chang  Family/' 
means  the  thingSj  good  and  bad,  that  happened 
to  a  family  by  this  particular  surname.  The  ac- 
count will  begin  with  the  story  of  Chang  Shiu 
Meng,  who  was  the  father  of  Chang  Tak  Meng, 
the  father  of  A'Chu,  who  helped  to  make  the  baby 
fat.  You  will  hear  how  the  fortunes  of  a  pros- 
perous and  respectable  family  dwindled  into  pov- 
erty and  contempt,  as  seen  in  the  home  of  A'Chu. 
But  the  story  does  not  end  there. 

THE  father  of  Chang  Shiu  Meng  had  inherited  a 
share  in  profitable  salt  mines,  and  with  this,  an  old 
sailing  junk.  The  junk  had  brought  salt  from  the  mines 
to  the  market  for  generations  of  the  Chang  family.  No 
matter  what  other  repairs  were  neglected,  the  two  large 
fishlike  eyes,  one  at  either  side  of  the  bow,  had  always 
been  kept  bright  with  a  fresh  coat  of  paint.  This  was 
considered  necessary  to  successful  voyaging.  What  sea- 
man would  risk  putting  to  sea  on  a  dark  night  in  a  junk 
without  eyes!  "No  have  got  eyes,  how  can  see  where 
to  go  ?  "  is  his  explanation  in  answer  to  your  question 
"Why?" 

This  junk  had  not  lost  a  cargo  at  sea  since  her  now 
gray-haired  captain  had  taken  command.  But  it  was  not 
to  the  untiring  watchfulness  of  her  captain,  but  rather 
to  the  big  bright  eyes  at  her  bow,  that  the  seamen  gave 
credit  for  this  extraordinary  record.  In  addition  to  the 
salt  mine  and  junk,  Chang  inherited  also  a  fine  house 
on  one  of  the  big  streets,  the  house  where  A'Chu  was 
born.     As  eldest  son  of  his  family,  he  inherited  not  only 

153 


The  Salt  Merchant's  Son  155 

the   fine  house   itself,   but   also   the  position   as  head   of 
the  house  to  the  family  his  father  had   left. 

This  meant  that  he  would  be  expected  to  provide  for 
that  numerous  family,  together  with  all  the  friends  and 
relatives  who  might  choose  to  come,  as  they  say,  to  "  visit 
awhile."     So  long  as  feasts  are  frequent  and  good  things 


FREIGHT    AND    PASSENGER    BOAT 


to  eat  are  plentiful,  these  visits  are  likely  to  last.  If 
presents  of  clothing  are  given  by  the  host,  such  guests 
are  quite  certain  to  stay  a  lifetime. 

But  if  Merchant  Chang  had  inherited  heavy  respon- 
sibilities as  head  of  a  large  family,  nature  had  well 
adapted  him  to  bear  the  burden.     He  was  alert,  quick  to 


156  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

see  opportunities.  Keen  foresight  helped  him  to  improve 
opportunities  to  profit.  Best  of  all,  he  had  a  disposition 
to  work. 

"  Fortune  favors  our  kinsman,"  observed  the  hangers-on 
at  the  big  house.  "  He  is  sure  to  become  rich."  With 
this  conclusion  they  settled  themselves  comfortably  for  a 
longer  "  visit."  Little  did  they  reckon  on  the  long  hours 
and  busy  life  of  the  host  whom  they  seldom  saw. 

The  time  others  frittered  away  in  idle  amusements, 
the  money  others  spent  in  small  luxuries,  Chang  in- 
vested in  his  growing  business.  More  boats  were  put 
into  service.  More  shops  were  built  to  handle  cargoes 
that   now   came   more   and   more   often. 

The  merchant's  family  increased  with  his  prosperity. 
Of  all  the  good  fortune  that  came  to  Chang,  nothing 
brought  such  joy  and  comfort  as  he  found  in  his  eldest 
son.  He  was  a^  bright,  merry-hearted  child.  His  witty 
answers  and  childish  pranks  were  the  fond  amusement 
of  the  men's  quarters  during  the  leisure  hour  following 
the  evening  meal. 

"  He  points  to  his  father,"  they  used  to  say,  meaning, 
he  looks  like  his  father. 

The  salt  merchant  felt  flattered  by  this  remark.  But 
down  deep  in  his  heart  he  said  to  himself,  "  Ah,  perhaps 
in  looks  he  follows  me,  but  in  nature  he  is  like  his 
mother.  He  has  the  bright  mind  of  the  Leungs." 
Chang  was  proud  to  say  that  the  "  first  lady  "  of  his 
house  was  a  Leung.  They  were  an  honorable  people. 
Of  late  years  many  of  the  honors  won  at  the  yearly 
examinations  had  been  conferred  upon  one  or  another 
member  of  the  Leung  family.  They  were  therefore 
coming  to  be  of  great  influence  among  the  officials  of 
their   country. 


The  Salt  Merchant's  Son        .  157 

After  such  a  spell  of  daydreaming,  the  salt  merchant 
would  set  about  his  business  with  greater  diligence  than 
before.  He  would  gather  riches,  he  promised  himself. 
His  son  should  be  sent  to  school  to  become  learned  like 
his  mother's  people,  the  Leungs.  Some  day  his  name, 
the  name  of  Chang,  might  become  honored  through  the 
noble  deeds  of  a  wise  son. 

There  was  great  joy  in  the  heart  of  the  salt  merchant 
the  day  when  the  old  nurse-granny  carried  his  child  on 
her  back  through  the  gate  and  down  the  street  toward 
the  best  part  of  the  city.  The  boy's  round  head  had 
been  freshly  shaved  in  a  circle  at  the  edge  of  the  hair. 
The  long  hair  at  the  crown  was  smoothly  plaited  and 
tied  with  a  silk  cord  ending  in  two  silken  tassels. 
He  looked  very  fine  indeed  in  a  new  suit  of  bright- 
colored  silk. 

"Where  are  you  going  with  Chang  boy  so  early?" 
inquired   a   friend   by   the  way. 

"  Taking  the  boy  to  school,"  the  nurse  replied  grandly. 

"What,  such  a  small  one  going  to  school!  " 

"  Those  who  wish  their  sons  to  become  wise  should 
see  that  they  begin  to  read  books  early,"  she  replied  as 
one  who  knows.  She  had  been  nurse-granny  to  little 
Chang's  mother  in  the  home  of  the  Leungs.  She  knew 
all  about  boys  going  to  school. 

"  To  what  school  does  he  go?  "  inquired  still  another, 
out  of  idle  curiosity. 

The  old  nurse  was  greatly  pleased  at  this  question. 
It  gave  her  the  chance  to  say  what  she  was  really  glad 
to  tell  among  her  acquaintances.  She  was  on  her  way  to 
the  very  best  school  in  the  city.  The  little  man  on  her 
back  was  going  to  school  to  sit  side  by  side  with  sons 
of  the  Leungs  and  other  families  of  the  educated  class, 


158  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

He  was  to  be  taught  in  a  school  of  reputation  for  its 
wise  teachers. 

"  What !  Chang  the  salt  merchant  put  forth  so  much 
money  to  give  his  boy  read  books?  " 

"  No  mistake.  My  master  wishes  his  son  to  become  a 
scholar." 

The  woman  passed  on,  stooping  forward  more  lowly 
under  her  small  burden.  The  boy's  scarlet  velvet  top 
vest  shone  out  more  vividly  in  the  morning  light  against 
the   dark   blue    of   her   own   coarse    cotton    garments. 

"  Don't  be  afraid,  little  one.  No  fear,  my  precious," 
she  said,  reaching  back  and  affectionately  patting  the 
child  on  her  back.  "  By  and  by  you  shall  become  a  great 
read-book  man." 

Little  Chang  w^as  the  youngest  and  also  the  smallest 
boy  in  the  school.  He  felt  very  shy  on  coming  to  school 
for  the  first  time,  even  in  spite  of  nurse-granny's  often 
repeated,  **  Don't  be  so  embarrassed.  There  is  nothing 
to  fear." 

Most  of  the  other  boys  had  been  at  the  school  for  a 
time,,  and  seemed  to  feel  quite  at  home  there.  Because 
the  "  little  one,"  as  they  at  first  called  him,  was  modest 
and  bashful,  the  boys  nicknamed  him  Shiu  Meng  (little 
name).  It  was  the  custom  for  boys  to  be  given  new 
names  by  their  schoolmates.  Often  the  name  given  by 
their  parents  was  quite  forgotten  or  remembered  only 
as  a  household  pet  name.  So  it  happened  to  the  salt 
merchant's  son.  Hereafter  we  shall  always  speak  of 
him  by  his  school  name,  Chang  Shiu  Meng. 


THE   BOY'S   SCHOOL   DAYS 

THE  first  two  or  three  years  of  the  boy's  school 
life  were  dull  indeed.  From  early  morning  till 
night,  day  after  day,  he  sat  on  a  wooden  bench  usually 
too  high  to  let  his  feet  touch  the  floor.  Sometimes 
he  hung  his  heels  on  a  crossrung  to  rest  for  a  few 
minutes.  But  this  piece  was  far  back  under  the 
middle  of  the  w^ide  seat,  and  the  effort  to  reach  it 
was  a  greater  strain  on  his  short  legs  than  was  the 
weight  of  his   dangling  feet. 

In  beginning  a  new  lesson  the  pupil  took  his  place 
at  the  teacher's  side.  From  the  top  of  the  perpen- 
dicular   line     reading    down-    .        ^ 

ward,   the  teacher  pointed   to   ^jSSwM 

11  1       11    1    •       t!T>r\       Ting  =  hear  or 

each  character   and   called   its    /'JV^St'V^      listen 

name.     The  boy  repeated  the 

word    after    him.      After    the 


gjgsv 


line  had  been  read  over  sev-      ^i^v 


eral    times,     the    pupil    went         _    w^  Gee  =  remember 

back   to   his   seat.      Then   he 

continued  going  over  the  line 

of  characters,  pointing  to  each 

letter    and    naming   it    aloud.       *  ^^    „,.  „_^q 

These  characters  are  not 
like  an  alphabet  of  letters, 
each  representing  its  own  particular  sounds,  which,  com- 
bined with  other  sounds,  produce  words.  Instead, 
each  character  is  the  symbol  of  a  word.  Each  word 
is  represented  by  its  own  particular  character-symbol, 
and  it  differs  in  some  respect  from  every  other  char- 
acter. There  are  many  thousand  words  in  the  Chinese 
written    language.      For    example,    between    three    and 

159 


160 


A'Chu  and   Other  Stories 


four  thousand  distinct  characters  are  used  in  a  printed 
copy  of  the  New  Testament  Scriptures.  This  makes 
learning  to  read  a  slow,  difficult  process. 

The  beginner's  book  is  made  up  of  short  sayings, 
in  rhyme,  of  three  characters  each.  For  this  reason 
it    is    called    "  The    Three    Character    Rhvme    Book." 


CHINESE    SCHOOLBOYS 

From  this  the  pupil  passes  to  the  "  Four  Character 
Rhyme  Book,"  then  to  the  ''  Five  Character  Rhyme 
Book,"  and  so  on.  When  he  has  passed  the  rhymes, 
he  begins  to  read  longer  sentences,  not  in  rhyme,  and 
passages  from  sages.  Each  boy  studies  by  himself, 
and  not  in  a  class.  He  is  promoted  when  his  work 
is  completed,  without  waiting  for  others  of  his  grade. 
Before  Chang  Shiu  Meng  was  able  to  understand 
what  he  read,   he  was   required   to   commit   to   memory 


The  Boy's  School  Days 


161 


many  pages,  even  whole  books  of  writings.  If  a 
boy  in  his  school  had  asked,  "  Master,  what  do  these 
things  mean?  I  do  not  understand  what  I  read," 
no  doubt  the  teacher  w^ould  have  replied,  "  You  are 
only    a    boy;    how    do    you    expect    to    understand    the 


©  U.   &   U.,  N.  Y. 

i-XAMIXATION     HALL,     CAxXTOX 

This  "hall"  contains  12,000  "cells."  The  student  en- 
tered a  cell  and  remained  locked  in  until  his  essay  was 
completed.  Often  the  pupil  fainted,  and  sometimes  died 
before  his  essay  was  done.  This  method  of  conducting 
examinations   is   now    obsolete. 

words  of  our  ancient  wise  men?  Waste  no  more 
time  asking  questions.  Be  diligent  in  reading.  Put 
forth  all  your  strength  to  learn  every  word.  Keep 
these  sayings  in  your  mind  constantly.  Do  not  for- 
get them,  and  in  time  you  will  become  wise  as  the 
sages  themselves."  Be  sure  his  wise  eyes,  looking 
11 


162  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

out  through  big  tortoise-shell-rimmed  spectacles,  would 
have  warned  that  boy  he  must  ask  no  more  such 
foolish    questions. 

From  the  writings  of  Confucius,  boys  were  taught 
rules  of  conduct  to  govern  a  good  life,  such  as  these: 

Duties  of  children  to  parents. 

Duties  to  older  brothers. 

Duties  to  younger  brothers. 

Duties  to  neighbors. 

Duties  of  a  subject  to  his  king. 
And    all    the    other    duties    of    a    good    man    in    this 
world.      Nothing    was    ever    said    about    duty    to    our 
Creator,    for    Confucius    taught    nothing    of    God    nor 
about    religion    as    we    know    it. 

The  boy's  school  days  were  pretty  much  all  work 
and  no  play.  There  were  no  rest  hours,  no  play 
hours,  and  no  vacations  in  a  Chinese  school  —  none 
except  the  yearly  holiday  festival  of  the  Chinese  New 
Year.  A  short  recess  for  breakfast  was  taken  in  the 
forenoon,  and  dinner  was  eaten  after  school  was  out 
in    the   evening. 

Outside  the  school  building  were  all  the  attrac- 
tions of  a  living  world  —  cool  shade,  green  fields, 
flowers,  and  fruits.  There  were  birds  with  their 
nests  and  young,  playful  pets,  and  other  children 
at  their  games.  But  none  of  these  things  should 
tempt  away  from  his  books  the  boy  bent  on  learning. 
He  who  aimed  to  become  wise  should  waste  no  time 
at    play. 

At  least,  this  is  the  way  those  Chinese  masters 
seemed  to  see  things  through  their  big  spectacles. 
What  wonder  if  Shiu  Meng  grew  spindle-legged  and 
thin-chested,  and  that  his  face  lost  its  sun-kissed  tinge 


The  Boy's  School  Days 


\6^ 


of  bronze.  What  if  he  sometimes  envied  his  father's  er- 
rand boy,  and  longed  for  the  time  when  that  serious- 
faced  man  would  say,  "  Enough  of  reading  books.  You 
are  needed  at  the  salt  shop." 

Inside  the  schoolroom  was  always  the  hum  of 
voices  of  boys  droning  at  their  lessons.  There, 
too,  were  always  long  lines  of  characters  to  be  memo- 
rized and  pages  to  be  written  in  the  copy  book. 
When  it  is  remembered  that  no  history  of  other 
nations  was  taught,  no  arithmetic,  nature,  or  geog- 
raphy, the  day's  program  appears  very  dull.  There 
were  no  interesting  newspaper  or  magazine  clippings 
of  things  happening  in  the  world  at  that  time  — 
none  at  all.  Instead,  the  pupils  were  taught  things 
that  took  place  centuries  ago,  and  learned  by  heart 
sayings  of  wise  men  dead  two  thousand  years  or  more. 


SCHOOLROOM    IN    A    TEMPLE 


©  U.   &  U.,  N.  Y. 

SAWIiNG  LUMBER  IN    A    CHIA'ESE    MILL,   NINGPO 
164 


A   GENUINE   CHINESE   BOY 

THE  family  name  "  Chang "  is  perhaps  as  old  as 
the  Chinese  nation  itself.  Chang  Shiu  Meng's 
family  (in  China  the  family  name,  or  surname,  is 
placed  first)  claimed  to  have  descended  from  a  long 
line  of  purest  Chinese  ancestors.  Not  a  man  among 
them  would  have  admitted  that  a  drop  of  Manchu 
or  Tartar  blood  flowed  in  his  veins,  not  even  if 
that  blue  drop  had  made  him  a  relative  of  the  em- 
peror. To  him  the  Manchu  was  an  oppressor,  the 
representative  of  a  foreign  Tartar  race,  which  in 
1662  A.  D.,  having  overcome  the  Chinese  nation, 
took  it  upon  themselves  to  rule  a  conquered  but 
superior    people. 

If  a  Chang  would  have  denied  relationship  with 
the  Manchus,  he  would  have  scorned  with  equal  con- 
tempt to  be  called  a  Hakka.  Hakkas,  he  would  have 
declared,  were  mere  strangers  in  the  land,  as  the 
name  itself  means.  Migrating  from  the  north,  they 
had  scattered  themselves  throughout  the  empire.  After 
learning  from  their  neighbors  what  the  Chinese  think 
to  be  true  civilization,  the  Hakkas  finally  settled 
down  to  become  industrious  citizens.  For  all  that, 
they  are  not  real  Chinese,  for  they  are  not  de- 
scended by  blood  from  the  ancient  and  noble  found- 
ers   of    the    Chinese    nation. 

Chang  Shiu  Meng,  even  more  than  the  Changs 
in  general,  was  proud  of  his  nation.  True,  China, 
misruled  by  the  Manchu  conquerors,  was  not,  as  he 
thought,  what  she  once  had  been,  but  he  was  proud 
of  his  nation's  past,  —  proud  of  her  sages  and  poets, 
proud    of    the    long    lines    of    kingly    families    that    had 

165 


166 


A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 


"  held  court "  from  earliest  times,  while  the  present 
great  nations  of  Europe  were  as  yet  but  half-savage, 
roving   tribes. 

Once  the  boy's  teacher  had  shown  him  a  map  of 
China.  From  this  map  he  got  several  ideas  strange 
to  us,  but  no  doubt  they  were  just  what  the  map 
was  intended  to  represent.  The  earth  appeared  to 
be  a  flat  surface,  spread  out  like  a  great  plain. 
China  lay  at  the  very  center  of  the  earth,  and  was 
shown    to    occupy    the    greater    part    of    its    dry    land 

area.  His  country, 
"  The  Flowery  Land," 
as  seen  from  this  map, 
was  the  greatest  coun- 
try on  the  whole  flat 
earth.  His  heart 
swelled  with  pride  that 
he,  Chang  Shiu  Meng, 
son  of  the  salt  mer- 
chant, was  also  a  son 
of  the  greatest,  most 
highly  civilized  nation 
of  the  world.  Com- 
pared with  China,  other 
nations  were  but  small, 
barbarous  tribes  on  its 
outlying  borders. 

To  this  Chinese  boy, 
the  Great  Wall  at  the 
north,  the  great  ocean 
on  the  east  and  south, 
with  the  towering,  al- 
cHiNESE  SCHOOLBOY  most  fmpassable  Hima- 


A  Gi 


Chh 


Boy 


167 


layas  and  the  trackless  desert  of  Gobi  on  the  west, 
seemed  to  encircle  in  sacred  inclosure  what  is  worth 
while  of  the  whole  earth.  Within  this  favored  circle 
have  lived  the  great  and  wise  kings  and  the  mighty 
warriors  who  founded  and  developed  this  vast  empire. 

Here  in  this  favored  land  lived  and  died  Con- 
fucius, China's  greatest,  wisest  philosopher.  Here,  also, 
lived  Mencius,  his  most  illustrious  pupil.  Before 
these  two  names,  of  tlie  wisest  of  her  wise  men, 
a  great  nation  of  400,000,000  people  bow  in  rever- 
ence. These,  the  boy  thought,  were  the  truly  noble 
and  wise,  whose  teachings  had  made  China  the  great 
nation  she  had  been  for  twenty-five  centuries,  from 
their    day    to    his    own    time. 

One  of  the  first  stories  Shiu  Meng  heard  at  school 
was  of  this  Confucius,  who  lived  B.  c.  500.  When  a 
boy,  Confucius  set  his  heart  on  learning.  Like  King 
Solomon  of  the  Bible,  he  prized  wisdom  above  every- 
thing else.  Like  Solomon,  and  like  every  boy  who  has 
been  willing  to  work  for  it,  he  acquired  great  wis- 
dom   and    learning. 


WAITING    TO    BE    TAUGHT 


168  A'Chu  and   Other  Stories 

Confucius  was  pointed  to  by  the  teacher  as  the 
model  of  schoolboys.  To  study  what  Confucius  wrote 
and  to  be  able  to  repeat  his  sayings  accurately  was 
the  teacher's  idea  of  learning.  To  understand  and 
live  according  to  the  precepts  of  Confucius  was, 
likewise,  the  highest  wisdom.  Unfortunately,  very 
few  masters  of  Shiu  Meng's  days  had  seen  a  Bible 
or  heard  of  Jesus  the  Christ.  They  firmly  believed 
Confucius  to  be  the  wisest  and  best  teacher  who  had 
ever  lived  upon  the  earth. 

Under  such  influences  and  teaching  as  have  been 
described,  Chang  Shiu  Meng  grew  up.  He  was  as 
full  of  ambition  and  hope  as  a  young  man  could  be 
whose  highest  ideal  of  life  was  to  copy,  in  outward 
conduct  at  least,  the  life  of  men  dead  long  ago. 
He  resolved  to  perform  every  duty  taught  by  the 
wise  men,  and  to  follow  strictly  the  social  customs  of 
his  times,  which  his  nation  regarded  as  sacred.  This 
course,  he  thought,  would  bring  him  a  quiet  and 
peaceful  life,  and  lead  to  a  peaceful  end  at  death. 
His  schoolmasters  had  taught  him  that  a  peaceful  life 
and  a  peaceful  end  are  the  greatest  blessings  to  be 
sought. 

Chang  Shiu  Meng  had  been  born  under  a  lucky 
sign,  so  the  fortune  teller  said.  Already  he  was  on 
the  way  to  riches,  for  on  leaving  school  he  had  become 
his  father's  partner  in  the  big  salt  works.  A  long  and 
peaceful  life,  a  peaceful  end,  and  riches,  —  these  three 
blessings  seemed  just  within  his  reach.  The  wooden 
heads  tapped  each  other  merrily  as  his  nimble  fingers 
sent  them  flying  over  the  polished  wires  of  the  abacus, 
or  reckoning  machine.  Each  day  his  reckoning  showed 
that    the    gains    of    his    business    were    increasing.      The 


A   Genuine  Chinese  Boy 


169 


voice  of  the  young  accountant  purred  with  content- 
ment as  he  swiftly  and  accurately  said  aloud  the 
sums  represented  by  his  operations  on  this  old-time 
counting     machine. 

One  more  blessing  he  greatly  desired;  for  did  not 
the  wise  men  teach  that  the  most  undutiful  conduct 
of  a  son  toward  his  parents  is  to  leave  no  sons  to 
worship  the  spirits  of  the  forefathers?  Shiu  Meng 
was  too  proud  to  allow  himself  to  be  thought  an  un- 
dutiful son.  Like  every  true  Chinese,  he  desired, 
as  a  part  of  "  riches,"  that  he  might  become  the  father 
of  many  sons.  But  why  bother  his  head  about  sons 
yet  awhile?  Good  fortune  was  on  his  side,  and  surely 
would    give    him    this    blessing    also,    in    proper    time. 

In  this  manner  did  Shiu  Meng  comfort  himself 
in  his  belief,  and  went  the  more  cheerfully  about  his 
business    at    the    salt    works. 


THE  BETROTHAL 

WHEN  Shiu  Meng  was  about  twenty  years  old, 
his  parents  decided  it  was  time  for  him  to 
marry.  Some  of  the  family  relatives  had  been  much 
worried  over  this  matter.  The  time  was  "  slow,"  they 
declared;  he  should  at  least  have  been  engaged  several 
years  ago. 

A  trusted  female  servant  of  the  family  was  chosen  to 
act  as  go-between,  and  was  sent  to  search  for  a  wife 
for  her  mistress'  son.  The  young  man  himself  was  con- 
sulted not  in  the  least.  Everything  was  left  to  the  go- 
between.  She  would  select  the  girl  and  plan  for  the 
whole  affair,  even  up  to  the  wedding  day. 

To  be  sure,  young  Chang  was  interested  in  the 
matter.  What  man  whose  highest  ambition  was  to 
lead  a  peaceful  life  and  die  a  peaceful  death  would  not 
be  interested  in  the  choice  of  the  woman  with  whom 
he  would  be  expected  to  live?  But  polite  custom  for- 
bade that  a  young  man  should  have  any  part  in  choos- 
ing his  wife,  and  Shiu  Meng  meant  to  follow  the 
customs. 

The  go-between,  having  satisfied  herself  that  she  had 
found  the  proper  person,  carefully  learned  the  girl's 
name  and  the  date  of  her  birth,  even  to  the  very 
hour  in  which  she  was  born.  These  facts  she  caused 
to  be  written  out  with  great  care,  and  she  herself 
took  the  paper  to  a  fortune  teller.  From  this  paper 
the  fortune  teller  compared  the  girl's  sign  in  the 
stars  with  that  of  the  young  man,  and  forecast  that 
the    pair    could    enjoy    a    happy    married    life    together. 

"  They  have  already  eaten  the  tea  presents,"  his 
old  nurse-granny  told  Shiu  Meng  privately  one  day. 
170 


The  Betrothal  171 

From  this  he  knew  that  the  customary  presents  of 
tea,  cakes,  nuts,  etc.,  and  money  had  been  sent 
to  the  chosen  girl's  family  and  had  been  accepted. 
This  meant  that  the  couple  were  engaged.  It  re- 
mained only  for  the  bride's  family .  to  fix  upon  the 
day  and  for  the  groom's  family  to  give  the  wedding 
feast  for  their  son.  This  feast  would  complete  the 
marriage  ceremony.  So  far  the  young  folks  had  not 
seen  each  other,  and  would  not  be  expected  to  meet 
till   their   wedding   day. 

However,  in  spite  of  custom,  Chang  was  greatly 
concerned  to  know  for  himself  what  kind  of  person  his 
bride  might  be.  Perhaps,  if  he  had  known  where  she 
lived,  he  might  have  done  as  I  have  known  other  young 
men  in  his  situation  to  do,  —  he  might  have  disguised 
himself  as  a  silk  seller  or  a  jewelry  peddler,  and  gone 
to  the  house  to  steal  a  look.  But  what  could  it  matter, 
after  all?  Whatever  he  might  think  about  her  would 
not  change  affairs  now.  He  was  already  engaged,  and 
in  China  a  betrothal  is  as  sacred  as  a  marriage  con- 
tract.    Neither  is  to  be  broken. 

"  She  is  very  beautiful,  and  more  sweet-tempered 
than  beautiful,"  old  granny  flattered  him,  when  he 
spoke  to  her   about  what  was   in  his   thoughts. 

She  might  have  admitted  that  all  she  knew  about 
it  was  what  the  go-between  had  told  her  over  their 
rice  bowls,  but  she  did  not.  Still  Shiu  Meng  was 
not  at  ease.  More  than  once  he  had  seen  his  fa- 
ther hurriedly  take  himself  into  the  street  on  pre- 
tense of  urgent  business  when  there  was  a  difficulty  to 
be  settled  between  his  own  mother,  "  the  big  lady," 
or  first  wife  of  his  father,  and  one  of  the  smaller 
wives.     At  times  there  had   been  jealousies  among  the 


172  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

women  of  his  father's  household,  and  such  spells  of 
"  sipping  vinegar,"  as  women's  family  quarrels  are 
called,  as  to  turn  the  whole  family  sour  for  weeks 
together. 

Indeed,  Shiu  Meng  himself  had  barely  escaped 
being  the  victim  of  the  jealousy  of  a  favorite  con- 
cubine, or  "  small  wife,"  of  his  father.  She  desired 
her  own  son  to  become  the  salt  merchant's  heir,  but 
this  could  not  be  while  the  son  of  "  the  big  lady " 
lived. 

One  day  this  fascinating  concubine  of  modest  eyes 
and  fair  face  coaxed  the  boy  into  her  apartments. 
She  flattered  him  with  soft  words,  and  gave  him 
plenty  of  sweetmeats  and  dainties  to  eat.  That  night 
the  rightful  heir  was  taken  sick.  Old  granny  was 
at    her    wit's    end    what    to    do. 

"How  fortunate!"  she  exclaimed,  relating  the  ex- 
perience to  his  mother  next  morning,  "'  he  threw  it 
all    up." 

After  this  affair  the  charmer  was  sent  away  to 
live  in  a  small  house  by  herself.  She  was  never 
allowed  to  come  back  to  the  big  family  home  any 
more,    not   even   to    share    in    its    gayety    on    feast   days. 

The  recollection  of  incidents  like  these  caused  the 
young  man  some  doubts.  He  was  not  perfectly  sure 
about  being  able  to  live  the  "  peaceful  life "  with 
any  pretty  girl  the  trusted  go-between  might  select 
at  first  sight,  or  at  best  on  short  acquaintance,  at  the 
recommendation  of  her  friends,  who  were  anxious  to 
see    the    girl    well    married. 


THE    WEDDING   FEAST 

DAYS  before  the  time  set  for  the  wedding  feast, 
there  were  many  goers  and  comers  at  the  Chang 
home,  for  the  son  of  the  salt  merchant  was  to  be 
given  a  feast  becoming  a  rich  man.  Caterers  from 
the  various  select  establishments  brought  roasts  of 
every  description.  There  were  whole  roast  pigs  done 
a  golden  brown,  every  part  evenly  cooked  to  the  very 
center,  but  never  a  bit  scorched.  Besides  these  were 
quantities    of    roast    fowl,    chicken,    duck,     and    goose. 

From  the  fruit  markets  had  been  brought  hampers 
of  bananas,  oranges,  and  pomeloes,  together  with 
baskets  of  fragrant  guavas,  the  brilliant  scarlet  litchi 
set  off  by  its  own  glossy  dark-green  leaves,  pineap- 
ples, mangoes,  and  a  variety  of  the  summer  fruits 
common  to  the  semitropical  climate  of  southern  China. 
The  bakers'  shops  fairly  outdid  themselves  in  the 
many  sorts  of  cakes  and  sweetmeats  produced  for 
this  feast.  Some  of  them  were  highly  colored,  — 
yellow,  red,  and  blue.  Not  a  few  contained  spiced 
minced  meats,  while  others  were  puffy  with  tooth- 
some sweets.  Of  fruit  conserves  and  confections  there 
was  no  end.  Wines,  also,  with  pipes  and  tobacco,  were 
provided    in    abundance. 

When  the  day  for  the  opening  of  the  week-long 
feast  arrived,  the  heavy  street  gates  of  the  court  had 
closed  behind  the  last  of  the  jostling,  noisy  carriers 
with  his  baskets,  pole,  and  ropes.  Bright  -  colored 
lanterns  hung  above  the  gateway  and  at  its  sides, 
and  the  portal  of  the  many-roofed,  rambling  old  house 
was  festooned  with  scarlet  bunting.  Everything  was 
ready    in    quiet   waiting. 

173 


©  U.   &  U.,  N.  Y. 


174 


A  "lily-footed"  woman 


The  Wedding  Feast  175 

On  the  opening  day  guests  came,  arriving  mostly 
in  closed  sedan  chairs.  The  chair  bearers  rapped  out- 
side the  gate  and  called,  "  Some  one  has  come." 
At  this  the  gatekeepers  unbarred  and  opened  wide  the 
two-leaved  doors.  Lackeys  called  out,  "  Madam  So- 
and-so,  with  her  attendants,  has  come ;  "  or,  "  The  Honor- 
able So-and-so  has  arrived."  The  great  house  was 
filled  with  relatives  and  friends,  old  and  young,  come 
to  make  merry  at  the  feast  the  salt  merchant  had 
prepared    for    the   marriage    of   his    son. 

Some  days  before,  a  procession  from  the  home  of 
the  bride  had  brought  her  clothes  and  gifts  from 
her  parents.  There  were  strong  tanned-hide  boxes 
bound  with  brass  bindings  and  securely  locked.  One 
might  readily  guess  that  these  contained  the  bride's 
trousseau.  Suit  upon  suit  of  substantial  clothing, 
meant  to  last  a  lifetime,  lay  smoothly  folded  within 
these  small  trunks,  for  fashions  do  not  change  as 
often  in  China  as  they  do  in  Paris.  There  were 
bright,  dainty  clothes  for  holiday  wear,  headgears  for 
many  occasions,  and  a  dozen  pairs  of  "  water  lilies," 
as  the  tiny  hand-embroidered  shoes  for  poor  bound 
feet  were  called.  (We  must  remember  that  this  wed- 
ding took  place  years  ago,  before  the  girls  of  China 
began  much  to  unbind  their  feet  and  to  go  to  school. ) 
There  were  bowls  of  various  sizes  and  different 
colors,  and  decorations  for  bath  and  toilet  use.  Boxes 
and  carved  trays  contained  quantities  of  gifts  and 
sweetmeats  sent  by  the  bride's  worldly  wise  mother 
to  be  distributed  among  the  children  and  servants 
of  the  great  Chang  family,  as  the  new  daughter-in- 
law  should  try  to  win  her  way  into  favor  in  her 
husband's  home. 


The   Wedding  Feast  177 

It  would  not  be  profitable  to  attempt  to  describe 
all  the  trunks,  baskets,  and  bundles  that  form  a  part 
of  such  a  procession,  and  it  would  be  quite  impossible 
to  name  the  countless  articles  these  might  contain. 
Enough  to  say,  all  the  belongings  of  the  bride  were 
sent  beforehand  to  the  home  of  her  mother-in-law, 
who  saw  them  safely  deposited   in   the  bridal   chamber. 

Then  came  the  crowning  day  when  the  bride  her- 
self was  expected  at  the  feast.  The  bridegroom  sent 
his  closest  and  truest  friend  with  a  letter  from  him- 
self calling  her  to  come.  A  Chinese  bride  keeps  such 
a  letter  very  carefully,  for  it  is  proof  of  her  mar- 
riage as  the  first  and  only  true  wife  of  her  husband's 
home.  Amid  the  tears  and  wailing  of  her  family 
and  young  friends,  the  girl  was  carried  out  of  her 
home,  placed  in  the  big  wedding  chair,  and  borne  away. 

At  the  Chang  house  there  was  heard  the  patter 
of  many  bare  feet  and  a  confusion  of  sounds  outside 
the  gate.  Then  came  a  loud  knock,  followed  by  a 
louder  call,  "  Open  the  gate."  The  courtyard  within 
was  thrown  into  a  bustle  of  excitement.  The  gates 
swung  open,  and  the  bridal  train  was  ushered  in  with 
the  piping  of  horns,  the  shrill  tones  of  musettes,  and 
the  clashing  of  gongs.  The  bridal  chair  was  a  massive 
wooden  structure,  carved  with  curious  designs,  painted 
red,  elaborately  gilded,  and  decorated  with  the  bright 
blue   of   the   kingfisher   bird's   feathers. 

With  a  great  deal  of  puffing  and  loud  talk  the 
chair  bearers  rested  their  burden  on  the  stone  pav- 
ing before  the  porch.  The  hired  waiting  maids  dis- 
mounted, and  came  and  stood  beside  its  door.  In  all 
that  procession  there  was  not  one  relative  or  friend 
of    the    little    bride    in    the    big    red    bridal    chair, 


178  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

All  eyes  turned  toward  the  door,  waiting  the  com- 
ing of  the  bridegroom.  Presently  the  door  opened, 
and  Chang  Shiu  Meng  came  out  to  receive  his  bride. 
Had  she  come  to  fill  his  life  with  contentment  and 
joy,  or  would  her  coming  disquiet  his  home  with  self- 
ishness and  ill  temper?  Whatever  may  have  been 
his  hopes  or  fears,  the  young  man  went  through  his 
part  as  coolly  as  if  he  were  receiving  a  cargo  of 
salt  at  the  shops.  He  tapped  at  the  door  of  the  bridal 
chair  with  the  tip  of  his  fan.  The  maids  opened  it, 
and  assisted  the  bride  to  alight.  A  loose  mantle  of 
scarlet  brocade  was  thrown  over  her  wedding  gar- 
ments, and  a  piece  of  thin  red  silk  fell  from  the  bridal 
coronet,    completely    hiding    her    face. 

"  Poor  child !  "  thought  Chang,  as  he  saw  that  she 
trembled  with  fright.  "  She  is  quite  as  helpless  as 
I  am,  and  just  as  unhappy."  For  she  still  sobbed 
with  grief  at  being  torn  from  her  home  to  become 
the  wife  of  a  strange  man,  and  what  might  be  worse, 
the   daughter-in-law   of    a   strange   mother-in-law. 

Good  form  would  not  permit  him  to  take  the 
girl  by  the  hand  and  lead  her  into  his  home.  He 
plucked  just  a  pinch  of  her  sleeve  between  his  thumb 
and  finger,  and  with  his  face  turned  aside,  led  her 
into  the  house.  Inside  the  threshold  he  stepped  upon 
a  stool  placed  for  him  to  stand  on  while  his  bride 
knelt  before  him  and  touched  the  floor  with  her  fore- 
head. This  is  a  part  of  the  marriage  ceremony  by  which 
the  bride  promises  to  respect  and  obey  the  man  before 
whom  she  kneels. 

However,  most  brides  do  not  take  this  promise  too 
seriously,  for  later,  when  they  sit  down  to  eat  to- 
gether   for    the    first    time,    the    couple    play    the    game. 


The  Wedding  Feast 


179 


"Who  shall  be  boss?"  The  wife  tries  to  get  a 
piece  of  her  husband's  long  coat  under  her  when  she 
sits  down.  His  part  is  to  prevent  this,  and  to  manage 
if  possible  to  sit  on  a  piece  of  her  clothing.  The 
one  who  succeeds  in  sitting  on  the  other's  garment  will 
rule    the    new    family. 

After    worshiping    together    at    the    family    altar    of 


Wmm^            ^^&^.-^i^^^^  ^  '^ 

W^'  w 

^1 

BB1DE    AND    GBOOM 

the  ancestors,  Shiu  Meng  and  his  wife  were  led  to 
their  bridal  chamber.  It  is  the  custom  at  this  stage 
of  the  feast  for  every  particle  of  covering,  either  veil  or 
ornaments,  to  be  removed  from  the  bride's  face.  For 
the  first  time  the  couple  are  allowed  to  look  into  each 
other's  faces,  to  be  seen  just  as  they  are;  for  the 
bride    uses    no    rouge    or    paint    on    her    wedding    day. 


180  A'Chu  and   Other  Stories 

Here  the  guests  gathered  around  them  and  made 
whatever  remarks  they  chose  about  the  bride's  looks, 
manners,  clothing,  or  what  not.  They  extended  to 
her  their  good  wishes,  the  chief  one  being,  "  May 
you  have  many  children."  They  congratulated  the 
bridegroom,  wishing  him  "  a  hundred  sons  and  a  thou- 
sand grandsons."  An  orange  tree  had  been  set  up 
in  their  chamber  and  hung  with  strings  of  cash  pieces. 
Strings  of  this  same  copper  coin,  with  the  square  hole 
in  the  center,  were  hung  above  their  couch.  These 
strings  of  cash  were  meant  to  express  to  the  couple 
the   wishes    of    their    guests    for    great    riches. 

The  wish  of  many  children  for  the  bride  is  a 
very  sincere  one;  for  the  older  women  know  that 
if  the  little  bride  is  so  unfortunate  as  not  to  give 
the  husband's  family  a  group  of  children,  and  espe- 
cially if  she  is  not  the  mother  of  at  least  one  son,  the 
family  will  compel  her  husband  to  take  another  wife,  and 
perhaps  even  a  number  of  them.     Then  trouble  begins. 

Through  all  the  trying  and  perplexing  ceremonies 
of  the  wedding  feast,  the  Chang  bride  bore  herself 
modestly.  That  her  features  were  not  handsome  her 
best  friends  must  admit;  but  after  the  tears  were 
dried  and  her  fear  had  passed  away,  her  black  eyes 
shone  keen  and  bright.  Her  face  revealed  a  con- 
tented heart  and  an  unselfish  disposition.  Shiu  Meng 
was  very  well  satisfied  with  her,  though  out  of  po- 
liteness and  modesty  he  spoke  of  her  always  as  "  my 
ugly    [plain   featured],   miserable   old   wife." 

On  her  part  the  bride  was  glad  when  it  was  all 
over.  There  had  been  no  happy  looking  forward  to 
her  wedding  day.  To  her  it  was  like  taking  a  leap 
into  the  deep  dark.     There  was  no  telling  what  might 


The  Wedding  Feast 


181 


come.  But  now  that  she  had  seen  the  man  and 
knew  for  herself  that  he  was  neither  hunchbacked, 
crippled,  blind,  nor  dumb,  that  he  was  not  a  leper 
nor  a  dried-up  old  opium  smoker,  she,  too,  was  satis- 
fied. In  spite  of  all  her  fears,  he  was  well,  young, 
and  good-looking.  She  counted  herself  very  happy 
indeed,  and  made  up  her  mind  to  be  a  good  and  true 
wife  to  Shiu  Meng,  and  a  faithful  daughter-in-law  to 
his  parents,  who  would  still  be  the  head  of  the  family. 
It  is  not  the  fashion  in  China,  nor  is  it  considered 
proper,  for  a  husband  and  wife  to  talk  about  loving 
each  other.  "  Not  all  the  king's  horses  and  all  the 
king's  men  "  could  have  drawn  such  an  expression  from 
the  lips  of  either  Chang  Shiu  Meng  or  his  equally 
well-bred  wife.  However,  the  truth  is,  that  before 
the  wedding  feast  closed  they  had  begun  together  that 
happy   life   the   fortune   teller   had    foretold. 


CARRYING    THE    BRIDE    TO    HER    NEW    HOME 


THE   UPS   AND   DOWNS   OF   FORTUNE 

CHANG  SHIU  MENG  was  really  a  happy  manT 
His  girl-wife,  who  was  only  sixteen,  proved  to 
be  just  as  sweet  tempered  if  not  so  handsome  as  the 
old    go-between    had   promised. 

Of  course  the  couple  did  not  set  up  housekeeping 
in  a  nice  new  home  by  themselves.  That  would  not 
have  been  according  to  the  customs  of  those  days. 
But  Shiu  Meng's  mother  showed  herself  a  woman  of 
sense,  in  this  matter  at  least.  She  had  seen  to  it 
that  a  suite  of  rooms  in  a  pleasant  part  of  the  family 
home  was  cleaned  up  and  freshened  with  new  paint 
in  a  manner  very  unusual  except  at  Chinese  New 
Year's  time.  A  suitable  portion  of  the  best  black- 
wood  furniture  the  big  house  contained,  was  selected 
and   placed    in   these    rooms. 

When  the  wedding  feast  was  over,  the  first  daugh- 
ter-in-law of  the  Chang  house  was  brought  there,  to- 
gether with  the  waiting  maid  and  bridal  gifts  sent 
from  her  father's  house,  and  was  duly  installed  in  her 
new  home.  While  the  young  people  ate  and  drank 
and  in  a  general  way  shared  life  with  the  big  family 
of  the  house,  still  these  pleasant  rooms  were  more  like 
what  we  think  of  as  a  home  than  a  Chinese  son's 
wife  usually  enjoys.  With  such  a  mother-in-law  the 
little   bride    felt    she    ought    to    be   very    happy    indeed. 

A  year  and  more  had  passed.  Shiu  Meng  and  his 
wife,  Sam  Gu  (meaning  "  third  one,"  so  called  be- 
cause she  was  the  third  child  in  her  family),  had  now 
become  quite  well  acquainted.  The  young  man  liked 
to  come  to  the  bright  little  sitting-room  where  Sam  Gu 
passed  most  of  her  time.  To  be  sure,  they  never  talked 
182 


Ups  and  Downs  of  Fortune  183 

much  together.  1  am  almost  as  certain  as  can  be  he 
never  told  her  why  he  liked  to  come.  Probably  he 
himself  never  knew.  The  place  was  more  pleasant 
than  the  big  parlor  where  the  men  of  the  house  gath- 
ered to  smoke  and  chaff  or  talk  business  affairs,  or 
perhaps  sat  to  listen  to  the  old  men  tell  tales  of  the 
Chang  ancestors  and  Chinese  legends  of  the  country's 
past.  He  was  happy  to  be  there,  sipping  the  tea  Sam 
Gu  brought  to  him,  and  nibbling  the  sweetmeats  she 
set  on  the  small  teakwood  table  at  his  side.  And  it 
may  be  said  his  wife  liked  to  have  him  come,  though 
she  usually  sat  with  her  face  turned  away,  busied  with 
embroidery   work. 

One  day  there  was  a  stir  and  commotion  about  the 
place.  All  the  interest  of  the  big  house  seemed  to 
center  in  that  quarter  where  the  daughter-in-law  lived. 
All  the  women  of  the  house,  ladies  and  maids,  gath- 
ered near,   waiting  expected   news   from  within. 

"  It's  a  girl,"  snarled  the  coarse  woman  who  poked 
her  head  out  for  a  half  minute,  and  with  only  these 
words  shut  the  door  in  disgust. 

Outside  the  door  everybody's  countenance  fell.  With 
a  sniff  the  servants  went  on  their  way.  The  "  visitors  " 
and  other  women  of  the  house  whispered  together 
gravely  as  they  disappeared  in  various  directions.  The 
First  Lady,  Shiu  Meng's  mother,  hobbled  back  to  her 
room  with  her  hand  resting  on  the  shoulder  of  a  slave 
to  help  her  balance  herself  on  her  two  tiny  feet. 
The  girl  threw  back  the  silken  draperies  of  a  carved 
bed,  and  the  First  Lady  of  the  Chang  house  threw 
herself  upon  it  for  a  prolonged  sulk.  Had  she  not  for 
months  feasted  the  family  gods  with  everything  reason- 
able gods  could  desire?     Had   not  the  ancestors  of  her 


184  J'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

husband's  clan  been  duly  honored,  both  by  hired  priests 
and  by  members  of  the  family?  Why,  then,  had  a  girl 
been  born  instead  of  the  son  for  whom  she  had  ear- 
nestly prayed? 

In  the  pleasant  rooms  of  the  daughter-in-law  a  poor 
little  mother  turned  her  face  to  the  wall  and  wept  in 
bitter  disappointment. 

By  and  by  the  baby  girl,  who  was  the  cause  of  all 
this  serious  talk  and  disappointment,  began  to  nestle 
and  squirm  in  the  big  bundle  of  old  clothes  where 
she  lay.  She  began  to  cry,  at  first  coaxingly,  then 
loud  and  determined.  She  opened  her  mouth  as  wide 
as  a  hungry  young  robin's,  and  the  round  little  head, 
covered  with  thick  black  hair,  rolled  from  side  to  side, 
searching   for   something   to   fill    the   gap. 

"  She's  hungry,"  growled  the  old  woman.  Picking 
up  the  bundle,  old  clothes,  baby,  and  all,  she  tossed 
it  into  the  bed   beside  the  sobbing  mother. 

Baby  kept  on  squirming,  searching,  and  crying.  The 
young  mother's  heart  was  touched.  She  drew  the  bun- 
dle to  her  side,  and  pressed  the  wee  black  head  close  to 
her  breast.  Baby  was  satisfied,  and  slept.  A  great 
warm  tide  of  love  sprang  up  and  overflowed  the  young 
mother's  heart.  ''Only  a  girl;  but  so  am  I.  We  will 
share  our  troubles  together,"  she  promised  the  wee  one, 
and    named    her    Oi    Line,    meaning    "  love    and    pity." 

As  might  be  expected,  Shiu  Meng  felt  quite  aggrieved 
because  his  wife  had  given  him  a  daughter  instead  of  a 
son,  as  every  one  had  prayed  for.  It  was  long  before 
he  came  to  her  pleasant  sitting-room  to  drink  a  cup  of 
tea  from  her  hands.  Even  then  he  had  not  forgiven 
Oi  Line  for  being  a  girl,  and  he  did  not  so  much  as 
notice   her. 


Ups  and  Downs  of  Fortune  185 

Sam  Gu  began  to  feel  sure  she  had  lost  her  position 
in  the  family's  favor,  and  thought  no  doubt  Shiu  Meng 
would  soon  be  bringing  home  a  second  wife.  Already 
her  mother-in-law  had  been  saying  this  was  the  only 
thing  to  do.  In  her  heart  she  did  not  blame  them. 
She  herself  thoroughly  believed  in  Chinese  customs  and 
tradition,  and  agreed  with  her  mother-in-law  that  by 
all  means  Shiu  Meng  must  have  a  son.  Only  sons 
may  succeed  their  fathers  in  ancestor  worship.  If  this 
kind  of  worship  were  neglected,  they  might  expect  the 
family  fortune  to  fall  into  ill  luck.  Shiu  Meng,  how- 
ever, seemed  in  no  hurry  for  a  second  wife,  and  Sam 
Gu  thought  it  must  be  her  duty  to  select  one  for  him. 

Time  went  on.  Again  there  was  a  stir  in  the  big 
house.  But  this  time  the  tip-toe  interest  did  not  center 
about  the  quarter  where  the  pleasant  sitting-room  had 
been.  The  mother  of  Shiu  Meng  had  decided  that 
probably  those  rooms  were  not  in  a  lucky  part  of  the 
house,  since  a  girl  had  been  born  there,  whejeas  a  boy 
had  been  desired.  So  she  insisted  that  Sam  Gu  and 
her  child  be  moved  to  other  rooms  where  she  thought 
the  fung-shui  might  be  more  favorable.  The  good  god 
supposed  to  grant  mothers  their  wishes  for  children  was 
set  in  a  shrine  for  the  daughter-in-law  to  worship.  Even 
a  different  woman  was  selected  to  take  care  of  the  little 
mother. 

Of  course  all  this  fuss  had  nothing  at  all  to  do  with 
what  really  did  happen  afterward  —  not  in  the  least 
way.  But  this  time  the  old  woman  opened  the  door 
wide,  and  with  a  broad  smile  said  loudly,  "  Blessings  on 
this  house!  A  son  is  born."  Now  the  women  smiled, 
and  each  one  hurried  off  to  perform  some  act  of  re- 
spect to  the  family  name.     The  mother-in-law,  of  course. 


186 


A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 


went  first  to  the  family  altar  to  thank  the   gods  with 
feasts  and  incense. 

Her  next  step  was  to  prepare  suitable  clothing  for 
this  new  son  of  the  house  of  Chang,  the  salt  merchant. 
One  of  the  largest  shops  in  the  city  was  asked  to  send  a 
salesman  to  the  house  with  a  package  of  silks.  The 
sewing  women  were  gathered  in  the  First  Lady's  parlor 


SEWING    FOR    THE    FIRST    SON 


when  he  arrived,  and  soon  various  pairs  of  hands  were 
delving   into   the   bundle,   selecting  the   brightest   colors 
and  gayest  patterns  for  the  baby's  clothes.     Spry  finger? 
moved  joyously,  and  in  a  few  days  a  stack  of  little  suits,f 
consisting  of   skimp   pants   and    roomy  jackets,   together!' 
with  a  number  of  caps,  was  ready  for  his  wear.     Sam[ 
Gu  looked  on  with  pleasure,  though  she  was  never  con-^ 


suited  as  to  what  was  to  be  made  for  her  child  nor  how 


Ups  and  Downs  of  Fortune  187 

it  should  be  made.  That  honor  was  properly  delegated 
to  the  grandmother. 

While  the  women  of  the  house  were  thus  seriously 
engaged  with  the  baby's  afEairs,  a  letter  was  received 
by  messenger  that  set  the  men's  quarters  into  an  equal 
stir  of  excitement.  The  letter  was  contained  in  a  big 
red  envelope  addressed  to  Shiu  Meng.  In  stately  lan- 
guage it  set  forth  the  fact  that  there  was  a  vacant  place 
among  attending  officials  of  a  viceroy's  yamen,  and 
with  the  father's  consent  this  official  would  call  his 
nephew,  Chang  Shiu  Meng,  to  fill  that  position.  It 
was  signed  by  Leung,  the  viceroy,  eldest  brother  of  Shiu 
Meng's  mother. 

Though  Chang,  the  salt  merchant,  was  getting  old,  he 
readily  consented  to  his  son's  going,  for  in  this  invita- 
tion he  thought  he  saw  his  brightest  daydreams  coming 
true.  His  son  was  now  on  the  road  to  making  a  great 
name  for  himself.  Of  course  he  would  not  be  allowed 
to  leave  home  until  after  the  baby's  naming-day  feast 
was  over. 

While  preparations  for  Shiu  Meng's  departure  to  the 
yamen  were  going  on  in  the  men's  quarters,  prepara- 
tions for  the  baby's  naming  feast  were  almost  com- 
pleted in  the  women's  quarters.  Baby  was  almost  a 
month  old.  On  the  thirtieth  day  after  his  birth  a  feast 
would  be  held,  and  a  fitting  name  be  given  this  son 
of  the  Changs.  To  be  sure,  the  young  mother  had 
found  a  name  which  she  thought  just  fitted  her  boy. 
A'Kam  Tsai  was  the  name  she  chose.  "  Nugget-of- 
gold  child  "  is  its  meaning. 

The  invitations  to  the  feast  had  been  sent  to  friends 
and  relatives  of  the  Chang  family,  and  presents  of  value 
or  beauty,  or  for  his  amusement  were  constantly  arriv- 


188  A'Chu  and   Other  Stories 

ing  at  the  house  —  charms  and  amulets  of  gold,  brace- 
lets and  anklets  of  gold,  silver,  or  jade,  and  toys  in  an 
exceeding  number  were  sent  by  guests  who  would  come, 
themselves,  when  the  day  arrived. 

As  a  last  act  the  grandmother  sewed  onto  the  tiny 
caps  golden  charms  supposed  to  have  the  power  to  pro- 
tect the  wearer  against  sickness  and  ill  luck.  Amulets 
of  equal  power  were  sewed  into  little  sacks  of  silk  to 
be  hung  around  his  neck.  Now  the  next  step  was  to 
choose  a  name.  '*  Call  him  after  his  father,"  some  one 
suggested. 

"  Not  so,"  insisted  the  First  Lady,  "  call  him  not  Shiu 
Meng  [little  name],  but  Tak  Meng  [the  powerful 
name]."  The  saying  pleased  them  all,  for  all  the  guests 
wished  that  Baby  Chang  might  in  time  outstrip  his 
father,  though  that  young  man's  prospects  now  appeared 
so  bright. 

The  feast  was  held,  and  Baby  Chang  became  known 
to  all  his  friends  as  Chang  Tak  Meng.  To  the  little 
mother  he  was  always  A'Kam  Tsai,  and  even  when  he 
c^rew  up,  was  still  her  A'Kam, 

Chang  Shiu  Meng  got  on  very  well  in  his  new  posi- 
tion at  the  yamen,  though  he  was  sadly  missed  at  the  salt 
works.  The  uncle,  Leung,  was  proud  of  his  nephew, 
rnd  trusted  him  with  many  particular  and  difficult  duties 
of  the  office.  Before  little  Tak  Meng  had  passed  his 
third  birthday,  it  was  known  that  his  father,  Shiu  Meng, 
was  to  be  appointed  chief  mandarin  of  a  large  district. 
He  would  begin  his  duties  in  this  new  office  after  the 
New  Year. 

While  Shiu  Meng  was  at  his  old  family  home  for  the 
New  Year  festivities,  he  was  taken  ill.  All  the  reme- 
dies  thought  of   by  the  women   of   the   house   failed   to 


Ups  and  Downs  of  Fortune  189 

quiet  his  suffering.  The  fever  in  his  body  rose  higher 
and  higher,  and  he  suffered  severe  pain  in  the  joints, 
which  became  swollen  and  inflamed.  A  native  doctor 
was  called.  After  a  long  talk  he  advised  a  remedy  which 
was  quite  sure  to  heal  the  sick  man.     It  was  expensive, 


WEALTHY  VILLAGE   HOME   READY   FOR   THE    NEW    YEAR 

of  course,  but  he  was  sure  the  Changs  would  not  hesi- 
tate at  any  cost  that  would  procure  healing  for  their  son. 
A  servant  was  dispatched  to  an  apothecary  shop  at 
the  farther  side  of  the  city.  In  a  short  time  he  re- 
turned, bearing  two  large  vessels,  one  in  a  basket  at 
either  end  of  the  pole  over  his  shoulder.  One  vessel 
contained  the  remedy  supposed  to  heal  the  pain  in  the 
hands,  arms,  and  trunk  of  the  body.  This  remedy  was 
a  large  light-colored  snake  with  dark  spots  along  its  back 
and  sides.     The  doctor  very  seriously  prescribed  the  way 


190 


A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 


in  which  the  reptile  was  to  be  stewed,  and  how  both 
the  flesh  and  the  broth  were  to  be  eaten.  In  the  other 
vessel  was  a  black  snake,  which,  if  prepared  and  taken 
according  to  directions,  was  warranted  by  this  doctor  to 
cure  the  disease  in  the  legs. 


A   CHINESE   DO(  1()J{ 

With  all  speed  fires  were  kindled  under  two  broad 
cooking  pans,  and  the  remedies  were  made  ready.  But 
though  the  doctor's  directions  were  strictly  followed,  the 
sick  man  grew  worse  and  not  better.  The  pain  became 
too  severe  to  bear,  and  finally,  when  it  was  proposed 
that  he  should  take  "  no-pain  medicine,"  Shiu  Meng 
consented  to  try  it.  It  stopped  the  pain  like  magic.  In 
a  short  time  he  felt  like  a  well  man.  He  talked  and 
laughed   in  a  jolly  mood. 


JJps  and  Downs  of  Fortune 


191 


Next  morning  the  pain  came  back  again,  and  Shiu 
Meng  called  for  more  of  the  '*  no-pain  medicine."  To 
cut  short  the  sad  story  of  this  promising  young  man's 
downfall,  let  it  be  said  at  once  that  Shiu  Meng  became 


Cc;    U.   &    U.,  JN.    Y. 


IN  AN  OPIUM  DEN 


an  opium  user.  At  first  he  smoked  to  quiet  the  pain. 
Then  he  smoked  because  he  had  smoked,  and  nothing 
but  more  of  the  same  smoke  could  satisfy  the  terrible 
thirst  and  craving  which  overcame  his  best  resolutions 
never  to  touch  the  drug  again. 


192  A'Chu  and   Other  Stories 

The  opium  destroyed  his  will.  It  overcame  his  am- 
bition. Though  his  body  gradually  recovered,  his  povrer 
of  mind  was  gone.  Then  he  smoked  because  there  was 
nothing  else  he  cared  much  to  do.  Till  the  late  hours 
of  the  night  he  lay  on  a  couch  rolling  into  soft  balls 
particles  of  the  opium  drug  heated  in  the  flame  of  a 
small  lamp.  These  balls  were  dropped  into  the  cup  of 
the  long  pipe.  A  few  slow  whiffs  of  the  sickening,  oily 
smoke,  and  the  ball  was  consumed.  Then  another  was 
prepared.  When  morning  came,  he  was  too  sleepy  and 
dull  to  attend  to  business. 

Opium  smokers  like  company,  and  in  time  numbers  of 
worthless  fellows  joined  Shiu  Meng  in  his  nightly  dissi- 
pation. Time  wore  on,  and  Shiu  Meng's  fortune  was 
fast  wearing  away.  His  father  had  died  in  disappoint- 
ment, for  Shiu  Meng  never  won  the  great  name  the 
salt  merchant  had  planned  for  his  son.  He  never  be- 
came a  mandarin,  as  his  uncle  had  expected  to  see  him. 
He  became  nothing  but  a  thin-chested,  dull-eyed,  weak- 
minded  opium  smoker. 

Relatives  of  the  family,  seeing  his  weakness,  seized 
control  of  the  salt  works  and  the  sailing  junks.  There 
was  nothing  left  him  but  the  big  house,  and  what  money 
these  relatives  chose  to  allow  him  for  keeping  his  family. 
The  best  of  his  belongings  were  pawned  to  get  more 
opium. 

The  boy  Tak  Meng  grew  up  under  these  very  bad 
influences,  with  a  great  desire  for  more  money  than  the 
family  income  could  allow  for  him  to  spend.  When  he 
came  to  be  head  of  the  family,  he  intended  to  recover 
the  family  wealth.  He  took  up  the  idea  of  making  a 
public  opium  den  of.  the  big  house.  He  borrowed  and 
spent  a  great  deal  of  money  in  getting  the  place  ready. 


Ups  and  Downs  of  Fortune  193 

For  a  time  there  was  again  plenty  of  money  in  the 
Chang  house.  It  showed  a  gay  face  to  the  world  once 
more,  and  its  friends  came  back.  Then  came  the  law 
to  close  all  the  opium-smoking  houses  in  China.  The 
men  from  whom  Tak  Meng  had  borrowed  money  took 
the  big  house  to  pay  his  debts.  Tak  Meng  was  forced 
to  seek  another  home,  and  to  earn  a  living  for  himself 
and  his  family  by  work  or  by  cheat  as  he  chose. 

He  began  to  gamble.  At  first  he  won  a  few  sums. 
That  gave  him  the  notion  that  he  must  be  very  clever, 
so  he  ventured  everything  he  could  sell  or  pawn  in  the 
exciting  game,  hoping  to  become  rich.  After  many 
changes,  the  family  finally  moved  to  a  small  house  back 
of  the  old  mission  chapel.  Tak  Meng's  wife  took  in 
any  work  she  could  get  to  do  in  order  to  earn  money 
to  buy  food  for  herself  and  the  children,  and  for  his 
feeble  mother,  who   lived  with   them. 


FIELDS    OF    POPPIES    FROM    WHICH    OPIUM    IS    GATHERED 

In  some  places  one  tenth  of  the  land  is  given  to  poppy 
growing. 

13 


LJJ 

^,p^'«^l■^:^-^ 

^j^^MMMM^^^^H^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^f  m^^^^H^^H^I^^^^^^^^^^B 

.9HMHBHHK%  si.i>i:!:                                                                -  -w^^Kirw«$K^Hi 

©  U.  &  U..  N.  Y. 

WHERE  WEALTHY    NATIVES   PASS    THE    TIME 


194 


A  SCENE   IN  CHANG  TAK  MENG'S   HOME 

GIVE  me  some  money !  "  Chang  called  excitedly, 
rushing  from  the  street  into  the  small  gray 
room  where  his  wife  sat  braiding  tea  mats  to  earn 
rice   for   the    family. 

"  Do  not  blame  me,"  the  woman  apologized.  "  Great 
is  the  pity,  but  I  have  no  money.  What  I  gave  you, 
honorable    senior,    was    the    whole    of    it." 

"  You  certainly  have  money,"  returned  the  man  an- 
grily. "Where  is  the  rent  money?  You  have  hidden 
it   in  your  pillow." 

With  one  bound  he  had  crossed  the  room  and  was 
climbing  the  stair  to  the  attic.  There  was  no  money  to 
be  found  in  her  pillow,  nor  under  the  matting  of  the 
bed,  nor  in  her  mirror  cabinet.  There  was  no  money  in 
the  crack  under  the  eaves,  nor  in  the  attic  anywhere 
Chang's    desperate   search    led    him. 

"  Give  me  the  rent  money !  "  demanded  Chang,  de- 
scending again  to  the  living-room.  "  You  are  only 
deceiving  me.  Give  me  the  house-rent  money,  or 
with  this  pillow  I  strike  you  dead,"  he  threatened, 
raising    the    hollow    porcelain    cube    for    the    blow. 

Then  as  though  on  second  better  thought,  he  spoke 
more  calmly,  "  Come  now,  give  me  the  rent  money  in 
your  belt.  Don't  be  a  fool.  Today  is  my  lucky  day. 
I  shall  win  today,  for  there  is  fire  in  my  heart.  Then 
you  need  not  work.  With  money  for  this  one  more 
game,  I  shall  win  the  riches  long  promised  me  by  the 
idols.      Quickly,   give   it   to  me." 

"  See  for  yourself,  there  is  not  a  cash,"  and  she 
tossed  him  a  small  coin  purse  taken  from  beneath  her 
garment.      It  was  the  little   red  pouch  of  scarlet  satin, 

195 


196  /rC/iu  and  Other  Stones 

hand-wrought  with  thread  of  gold,  that  hung  from 
her  girdle  when  she  came  to  him  a  bride.  Years  had 
passed  since  the  little  purse  had  bulged  with  gold  coins 
as  it  did  that  day.  Indeed,  it  had  been  months  since 
even  two  pieces  of  silver  had  rubbed  sides  between  its 
folds. 

He  snatched  it  open  and  went  through  each  small 
compartment  once  and  a  second  time,  as  though  he 
suspected   the   little  limp  sack  also  were  deceiving  him. 

The  purse  dropped  from  his  hands,  and  disappoint- 
ment covered  his  features.  With  bew^ildered,  staring 
eyes  he  searched  the  bare  walls  and  floor  of  his 
home.  There  was  nothing  of  value  left.  The  last 
piece  had  gone  to  the  pawnshop.  He  caught  the 
outline  of  a  brown  lacquered  sleeve  behind  the  door. 
The  bent  shadow  of  a  little  old  woman  fell  across 
the   red   tile    floor   and    up   the   gray   brick   wall. 

Chang  sprang  toward  the  foot  of  the  shadow.  "  Oh. 
you  have  the   money!     Give   it  to   me,"   he   demanded. 

"  It  is  not  good  to  speak  so  loudly,"  Chang's  mother 
spoke  quietly.  "Why  is  your  heart  so  disturbed?" 
she   inquired    gently. 

"  I  said,  Give  me  the  money,"  he  repeated  more 
loudly. 

"From  whence  should  I  have  money?"  pleaded  the 
widow,  holding  out  her  delicate  hands.  **  These  can- 
not toil." 

**  Without  mistake  you  carry  the  house-rent  money, 
and  therefore  you  were  hiding  behind  the  door. 
Give    it    me." 

"  Listen  to  reason.  Should  not  a  son  hear  his 
mother's  words?"  she  pleaded.  **  Suppose  the  land- 
lord should  put  us  into  the  street.     Where  could   Igu 


A  Scene  in  Chang  Tak  Meng's  Home  197 

sit  to  weave  mats  to  buy  our  rice?  Where  would 
your  old   mother   lie  down   to  sleep   at   night?" 

"  You  both  alike  are  silly  women.  You  both  hinder 
my  good  fortune  by  yoiir  foolish  talking.  Give  it  in- 
stantly,"  he  shouted   hotly,   angered   by   the  parley. 

**  Strike  me  dead,  even  so  I  will  not  give  the  rent 
money  trusted  to  my  care,"  flared  the  aged  woman 
defiantly. 

Beside  himself  with  rage,  the  gambler  sprang  at  his 
mother.  He  seized  her  by  the  arm  with  a  grip  that 
sent  his  clawlike  nails  through  the  thin  garments,  cut- 
ting the  flesh. 

"  You  shall  give  it.  I  will  have  it,"  and  the  mad- 
dened man  hissed  w^ords  that  stung  the  little  mother's 
heart  like  the  fang  of  a  serpent. 

With  a  quick,  desperate  effort  the  old  woman 
snatched  a  blue  rag  from  an  inside  pocket  and  flung  it 
across  the  room  toward  her  daughter-in-law.  But  Igu 
did  not  move  from  the  low  stool  nor  stop  her  braiding 
at  the  mats.  When  a  mother's  words  fail,  it  would  be 
useless  for  a  wife  to  interfere.  She  had  learned  that  it 
is  as  hopeless  to  oppose  the  gambler's  passion  as  to 
reason  with   a  drunken  man. 

The  blue  rag  dropped  to  the  floor  with  a  thud  that 
told  plainly  it  held  just  what  the  man  was  looking 
for.  He  seized  it,  and  w^as  off  toward  the  gambling 
house. 

The  little  old  woman  sank  down  on  a  wooden 
chair  and  clasped  both  hands  over  her  breast,  pressing 
tightly  as  if  to  close  a  wound.  In  that  moment  of 
intense  excitement  her  only  son  had  hissed  a  bitter 
oath  in  her  ear.  He  had  blasphemed  an  aged  parent. 
He   had   cursed    her    in   the   name   of   her   mother,    that 


198  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

revered  title  compared  with  which  no  name  besides  his 
own  had  been  so  dear  to  her  heart. 

She  rose  with  flames  in  her  eyes  and  started  toward 
the  door,  then  hesitated.  No  telling  what  might 
happen  if  the  authorities  were  to  get  notice  of  his 
conduct.  In  no  place  is  the  exact  penalty  of  the  di- 
vine law,  "He  that  curseth  father  or  mother,  let 
him  die  the  death,"  more  strictly  executed  than  in 
China. 

"  No,  I  will  make  no  complaint,"  she  said  decidedly. 
"  It  is  the  game.  The  game  has  made  him  crazy. 
Gambling  has  rotted  his  brain,"  she  argued  against 
her  own  convictions  of  justice,  and  went  back  to  the 
wooden   chair. 

"  A'Kam,  A'Kam,"  she  moaned,  and  reached  a  sh^y 
hand  toward  her  shoulder,  as  if  feeling  for  her  child's 
soft   cheek    resting   there. 

She  sat  very  still  for  some  minutes.  Then  her 
hand  grasped  the  chair  arms  and  her  lips  became 
very  firm.  She  arose,  and  going  quietly  about  gath- 
ered up  a  few  indispensable  articles,  —  a  small  tin 
box  containing  a  wooden  comb  and  two  small  hair 
brushes,  a  hank  of  thread  with  a  brass  thimble,  and  a 
suit  of  cotton  garments  she  slipped  from  a  bamboo  stick 
on  which  they  had  been  hung  to  dry.  These  were 
wrapped  tightly  together  and  tied  in  a  square  of  cloth. 

"  Undutiful  son !  I  cannot  eat  rice  with  an  unduti- 
ful  son.  Better  were  a  burned  crust  from  the  rice 
kettle  of  the  poor  home,"  she  said  to  herself,  but 
conveniently   within   her   daughter-in-law's    hearing. 

"  Sit  comfortably,"  she  bade  Igu,  as  she  passed  out 
the  door  with  the  bundle  in  one  hand  and  a  walk- 
ing  stick    in    the    other. 


A  Scene  in  Chang  Tak  Meng's  Home  199 

"  Walk  well,  walk  slowly,"  returned  the  daughter- 
in-law,  without  raising  her  eyes  for  very  shame  of 
what  had   happened. 

The  two  children  returned  from  the  market  elated 
with  plans  for  a  surprise  they  were  to  give  grand- 
mother at  mealtime.  Down  at  the  bottom  of  the 
basket  was  a  tiny  strip  of  fresh  fish  intended  for  her 
alone.  And  the  rice  they  had  found  in  the  market 
today  looked  whiter  and  its  kernels  were  more  flinty 
than  they  had  been  able  to  afford  for  some  time. 
They  passed  through  the  room  to  the  cookhouse  with- 
out noticing  the  pallor  of  their  mother's  face.  She  had 
often  looked  pale  since  they  could  remember. 

"Where  is  grandmother?"  queried   Fung  Mui. 

"  Grandmother  has  gone  what  place?  "  chimed  A'Chu. 

"  Gone  to  the  poorhouse,"  their  mother  answered 
with  a  tilt  of  her  nose  toward  the  door  and  a  sweep 
of  its  tip  in  the  direction  of  the  side  street.  She 
herself  sat  like  stone,  only  her  hands  at  the  mats  moved 
like  parts  of  a  mechanical  toy. 

"We'll   bring   her   back,"    said    A'Chu. 

"  Bring  her  back,"  echoed  his  sister.  They  tore 
through  the  door  and  down  the  street,  following  the 
direction    of    their    mother's    nose. 

The  grandmother's  crippled,  bound  feet,  aided  only 
by  a  wooden  walking  stick,  had  not  made  rapid  head- 
way,* for  the  paving  stones  were  smooth  and  slippery 
from  the  rain.  Pattering  feet  from  behind  were  over- 
taking her  slow  pace,  so  she  stepped  aside  to  wait  for 
them   to  pass. 

"  Grandmother,  come  back,"  called  the  children. 
"  We  have  come  to  lead  you  home  again,"  panted  a 
voice    at    either    elbow. 


200  AXhu  and  Other  Stories 

"  I    am   not   going   back,"    she   replied    with    firmness. 

Each  child  took  her  gently  by  the  arm,  and  turned 
her  about  in  the  street.  With  Fung  Mui  pulling  at 
the  bundle  in  front  and  A'Chu's  sturdy  arms  push- 
ing at  her  back,  the  old  woman  was  moved  slowly 
homeward.  All  along  the  way  she  protested,  "  You 
needn't,  you  needn't,  for  I  am  not  going  home." 

"  But  we  have  a  piece  of  sweet  fresh  fish  for  your 
supper,  and  lots  of  good  white  rice  to  cook.  Come,  let's 
get  back  quickly,"  coaxed  A'Chu. 

"  I  will  work  very  fast  at  the  mats,  and  we  will 
have  good  things  tomorrow,  also,"  promised  Fung  Mui. 

"What  is  happening  in  the  street?"  questioned 
voices  from  the  courts  of  walled-in  dwellings  along 
the  way.  Small  boys  or  slave  girls  stationed  at  the 
gates  to  gather  the  local  news  for  the  shut-in  women, 
returned  the  news,  "  There  has  been  a  row  at  Chang 
Tak  Meng's  home.  His  venerable  mother  wishes 
to  go  to  the  poorhouse,  but  the  children  will  not  let 
her  go." 

Men  looking  on  through  the  open  fronts  of  their 
shops,  exchanged  opinions.  **  What  a  pity  on  her,  she  is 
so  old !  "  said  one.  "  Such  a  son  should  be  made  a 
warning  to  others  by  being  beaten  forty  strokes  with  a 
bamboo  rod,"  remarked  another. 

By  the  time  the  three  reached  home  and  the  old 
grandmother  had  been  given  a  cup  of  tea  and  coaled 
to  rest,  all  the  neighborhood  had  heard  .what  had 
taken    place    in    the    gambler's    home. 

An  uncommonly  large  number  of  persons  passed 
that  afternoon,  walking  slowly  and  looking  in  at  the 
door.  Igu  did  not  raise  her  eyes.  She  was  too 
ashamed    to    look    a    neighbor    in    the    face.      The    chil- 


A   Scene  in   Chang   Tak  MeJig's  Home  20l 

dren  were  not  present  when  the  storm  of  angry  words 
swept  their  home,  but  even  if  the)^  had  been,  the  joy 
of  having  grandmother  back  again  would  have  covered 
it  all.  They  paused  only  long  enough  to  answer  their 
inquisitive  neighbors,  "No  mistake!  Grandmother  is 
back  again,"  and  went  on  quickly  getting  the  sur- 
prise  meal   ready. 

Grandmother  seemed  quite  satisfied  to  lie  resting 
after  the  exciting  time  and  long  walk.  After  all, 
she  could  not  feel  that  her  life  was  all  sorrow.  For 
in  what  her  prodigal  son  had  come  short  of  duty, 
his  children  were  making  up  to  her  with  swift  feet 
and   loving   hearts. 

Chang  Tak  Meng,  still  unlucky  as  ever  and  now 
also  shamefaced,  crept  quietly  into  the  house  while 
the  street  watchman  was  beating  the  small  hours 
of  the  night.  After  a  few  hours  of  restless  sleep  he 
was  up  at  sunrise  to  try  again  his  luck  at  the 
gambling    tables. 


THE   GAME   WON   AT   LAST 

MONTHS  wore  away  while  things  went  on 
about  as  usual  in  the  Chang  family.  Chang 
himself  was  always  pursuing  good  fortune,  while  evil 
fortune  was  forever  overtaking  him.  What  he  won 
today    he    lost    tomorrow.      Whatever    his    fortune,    he 


TELT.TXG    FOHTrXFS    BY    THE    PALM 


always  wore  good  clothes.  No  one  knew  exactly 
where  he  got  them,  though  it  was  suspected  they  were 
borrowed.  That  he  was  less  than  half  well  fed 
was  plainly  to  be  seen  in  the  gauntness  of  his  thin 
body. 

Mrs.    Chang    and     Fung    Mui    were    always    busy 
with  the  mats.     Once  I  said  to  the  girl,  "  We  have  a 
fine    group    of    young    girls    like    you    in    our    girls' 
202 


The  Game  Won  at  Last 


203 


school.  Would  you  like  to  go  to  school  and  learn 
to  read?  " 

"  Yes,  indeed,"  she  replied.  "  I  have  heard  them 
sing,  too." 

**  You  can  come  to  our  school  without  pay.  School 
begins    next   week.      Will    you    come?  " 

"  I    have    no    clothes    for    school,"    she    said. 

"  But,  Fung  Mui,  if  you  wish  to  go  to  school, 
don't  stop   to   think  about  clothes.      Many   of   the   girls 


IKfilil 

WBLf. 

^      IMUflll 

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m      liiiiiiiii 

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if 

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mmM 

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1*'^^ 

OTRLS    TX    A    MISSION    SCHOOL 

come  in  very  plain  clothes.  I  will  help  you  get 
garments    fit    for    school." 

"  Mother  is  poor.  I  must  help  earn  money,"  she 
said  sweetly.  "  A'Chu  must  read  books.  Sometime  he 
will  go  to  school,"  she  added  unselfishly. 

Some  time  later  the  baby  brother  came,  and  every- 
thing   else    was    forgotten    in    the    children's    effort    to 


204  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

get  on  without  eating  in  order  that  there  might  be 
food   for  those  who   must  have   it. 

A  very  confidential  friendship  had  sprung  up  be- 
tween the  gambler's  son  and  my  own  boy,  who  was 
about  two  years  the  older.  A'Chu  rarely  went  to 
market  but  that  he  stopped  at  the  gate  to  talk  over 
his  business  with  "  the  foreign  boy,"  as  he  called  our 
young  American. 

Not  only  was  there  lack  of  food  in  the  Chang 
family,  but  there  was  not  a  scrap  of  cloth  in  the 
house  to  make  clothes  for  the  little  stranger  —  only 
an  old  blue  cotton  garment  to  wrap  it  in.  Winter 
was  coming.  It  was  amusing  to  hear  the  two  boys 
plan  what  might  be  made  of  stockings  with  worn-out 
feet,  skirt  bottoms  of  outing  flannel  gowns,  and  the  re- 
maining parts  of  worn-out  knitted  garments. 

"  Tell  your  mother  not  to  let  a  scrap  of  new  cloth 
be  thrown  away,"  A'Chu  instructed  his  American  part- 
ner in  the  baby-clothes  business.  ''  Mother  will  piece 
them  together  and  make  a  handsome  baby-carrier  for 
me  to  carry  the  baby   in." 

A'Chu's  enthusiasm  for  his  baby  brother's  comfort 
was  contagious.  We  all  caught  it.  By  the  time  the 
boy  had  the  baby  in  his  bright  patchwork  carrier  and 
came  around  to  show  him  at  our  gate,  he  was  a 
brother  for  any  boy  to  be  proud  of.  The  little  face 
was  plump  and  contented,  and  the  fat,  dimpled  hands 
curled  up  cutely  under  the  long  sleeves. 

A  soft  knitted  garment  snugged  close  to  baby's 
body,  and  his  squirming  legs  were  clothed  in  pants 
of  the  same  material  to  the  very  ankles.  The  foreign 
partner  had  taken  a  very  decided  stand  against  the 
Chinese  custom  of  clothing  a  baby's  head  and  chest  and 


The  Game   Won  at  Last  205 

trunk  and  leaving  the  legs  practically  bare.  And  so 
A'Chu's  baby,  in  addition  to  warm  pants,  wore  white 
stockings  and  moccasins  of  woolen  cloth.  Well  fed 
and  warmly  clothed,  baby  was  supremely  happy,  and 
grew  accordingly. 

"  There  is  not  another  such  fine  baby  in  the  neigh- 
borhood,"  said   all  the  old   women. 

"  What  a  pity  its  father  is  a  gambler !  "  remarked 
another. 

Chang  Tak  Meng  heard  the  compliment,  and  took 
notice.  The  baby  also  began  to  take  notice,  and 
Chang    spent    more    time    at    home. 

"What  has  happened?  Did  you  see  that?  The 
man  behind  carrying  that  sedan  chair  is  Chang  Tak 
Meng,"    reported    one    to    another. 

"  Chang  Tak  Meng  at  work!  Fear  you  saw  wrong," 
returned    her    companion. 

"  Father  brought  home  fish  and  greens  for  supper. 
We  all  ate  full,"  A'Chu  reported  at  the  garden 
gate  that  night. 

"Where  is  your  baby?"  inquired  his  American  part- 
ner, observing  that  the  bundle  was  gone  from  his 
friend's  back. 

"  Oh,  father  is  playing  with  the  baby,"  explained 
A'Chu.  "Come  and  see  how  cute  he  is,  and  how 
fat   he   has   grown." 

The  boys  ran  together  around  the  corner  to  the 
street  back  of  the  old  mission  chapel. 

No  one  can  tell  how  it  happened  or  when,  but 
Chang's  lucky  day  had  come,  the  game  had  been 
won  at  last.  The  old  gambler  had  regained  his  senses. 
The  craze  had  left  him,  and  Chang  sat  by  the  door 
of   his   house   with   the   baby   on   his   knee. 


206  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

If  one  were  to  ask  me  how  it  happened,  I  should 
say,  "  The  children  did  it."  If  A'Chu  had  not  helped 
to  make  the  baby  fat,  he  would  soon  have  died  and 
needed  no  clothes.  If  the  clothes  had  not  been  warm 
and  comfy,  baby  could  not  have  grown  so  attractive. 
No  gambler  would  care  to  sit  at  home  and  hear  a 
half-starved,  blue-with-cold  baby  cry.  But  what  Chi- 
nese father  could  have  resisted  such  a  fine  baby  boy  as 
the  proud  brother  put  on  exhibition  in  its  best  clothes 
whenever  Tak  Meng  dropped  into  the  house? 

Bits  of  soap  left  from  wash  day  were  choicely  gath- 
ered up  by  the  American  partner  and  slipped  over 
to  A*Chu,  with  full  directions  how  to  use  them. 
The  mother  and  Fung  Mui  were  busy  weaving  mats. 
But  besides  going  to  market  and  carrying  baby  on  his 
back  most  of  the  day,  A'Chu  found  time  to  wash  the 
little  one's  clothes.  Indeed,  his  own  clothes  began  to 
look  as  if  they,  too,  sometimes  passed  through  soapsuds. 

Night  after  night,  when  the  chapel  door  swung 
open,  the  father  came  in  with  the  baby  in  his  arms 
and  A'Chu  by  his  side.  He  sat  among  the  listeners, 
and  heard  of  One  who,  though  rich,  for  his  sake  be- 
came poor,  that  he,  Chang  Tak  Meng,  might  become 
rich.  Let  us  hope  Chang  never  lets  slip  the  good  for- 
tune  found   in   the   old   mission   chapel. 


Stories  of  Chinese  Life 


THE  HUNCHBACK 

BAD  enough  to  be  hunchbacked,  most  boys  would 
say,  without  being  named  Hunchback.  Quite 
bad  enough,  we  agree,  to  carry  a  big  hump  where  the 
shoulder  blades  should  be,  to  grow  arms  far  too  long 
for  the  body,  and  to  hitch  along  on  spindling  legs 
matched .  in  length  to  the  arms.  To  be  reminded  of 
this  deformity  every  time  his  name  was  spoken  did  not 
better  matters  for  the  boy. 

Maybe  the  fish  man  did  not  think  how  such  a  name 
would  feel  to  a  boy.  As  he  sat  by  his  block  under  a 
shade  of  flour  sacks  stretched  over  bamboo  poles,  the 
fish  seller  did  not  look  very  kind-hearted.  No  bantering 
customer  ever  inclined  him  to  cut  short  his  weights. 
While  he  carefully  balanced  his  wooden  steelyards  in 
one  hand,  he  marked  with  the  thumb  and  forefinger 
of  the  other  the  last  notch  each  cut  could  be  made  to 
weigh.  A  lean  hand  caught  the  copper  change  as  it 
fell  to  the  block,  and  with  a  quick  sweep  turned  it  into 
his  box. 

Perhaps  the  fish  man's  business  did  not  help  him  to 
be  thoughtful  of  others.  He  always  spoke  even  the 
cripple's  name  in  a  tone  like  the  ring  of  the  cash 
pieces    as   they    fell    into    the    iron    box. 

Maybe  the  boy's  mother  did  not  think  how  it  would 
feel  to  be  called  Hunchback.  She  was  a  pale-faced 
woman,  whose  feet  had  been  tightly  bound  when  she 
was  a  small  child.  They  were  poor  stubs  now,  not 
longer  at  the  soles  than  the  natural  feet  of  a  child 
two   or   three   years   old. 

Maybe    they    did    think,    both    of    them,     and    con- 
cluded,   in    real   Chinese   fashion,    that   since   their   son's 
14  209 


210  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

deformity  could  not  be  helped,  they  must  make  the 
best  of  it.  The  sooner  the  boy  got  used  to  it  the 
better.  At  any  rate,  they  commonly  called  him  after 
the  hump  on  his  back,  A'Tau  —  in  our  language,  just 
plain  Hunchback.  Most  certainly  you  will  prefer  to 
hear  him  called  by  the  Chinese  name,  for  although  it 
means  the  same  to  him,  it  does  not  sound  so  cruelly 
blunt   to  us. 

At  first  acquaintance  A'Tau  did  not  appear  to  be 
very  hunchbacked.  He  was  able  to  get  about  in  a 
lively  fashion,  and  had  as  bright  a  mind  as  the  aver- 
age boy  of  his  age.  When  the  games  became  too  rol- 
licking, so  that  he  could  not  join  the  other  boys  in 
sport,  he  was  often  chosen  umpire.  He  must  have 
been  a  just  judge,  for  the  boys  usually  were  satisfied 
with  his  decisions.  His  father  was  not  too  poor  to 
aflFord  an  education  for  his  son,  and  was  willing  to 
send   him    to   school. 

Any  one  in  China  willing  to  study  enough  to  pass 
the  government  examinations  might  rise  to  a  position 
of  honor.  It  is  quite  possible  the  fish  dealer's  son 
might  have  become  a  real  judge  in  his  nation  but 
for  one  unfortunate  turn  the  boy  took,  at  first  without 
his  parents'  knowledge. 

Those  days  when  A'Tau  was  at  school  were  stirring 
times  in  China.  A  young  emperor  had  come  to  the 
throne  as  heir  of  the  Empress  Dowager,  or  queen 
mother.  He  started  in  with  a  swift  hand  to  change 
the  slow  old  customs  and  make  of  China  a  new,  mod- 
ern kingdom.  When  the  old  men  shook  their  heads, 
they  were  promptly  given  pensions  and  allowed  to  go 
home.  Young  men  who  approved  the  young  emperor's 
reforms  were  called  to  be  his  counselors. 


(0   U.  &  v.,  N.  Y. 

"  LILY-FOOTED  "    GIRL   BEINCi    CAKRIKD    BY 


ANT 
211 


212  J'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

In  a  short  time  the  wiser  heads  of  China  decided 
things  were  moving  too  rapidly.  They  insisted  that 
the  empress  must  look  after  her  adopted  son's  ways. 
The  son-emperor  was  dismissed  to  a  quiet  life,  while 
his  queen  mother  again  became  ruling  empress  of  China. 

Perhaps  in  a  time  like  this  it  was  but  natural  for  a 
boy  of  A'Tau's  age  to  think  he,  too,  could  do  things 
without  the  advice  of  older  or  wiser  people.  Unfor- 
tunately for  the  cripple,  no  strong-minded  mother  was 
watching  to  correct  his  folly  before  it  was  too  late. 

One  reform  the  young  emperor  had  planned  was  to 
drive  opium  smoking  from  his  kingdom.  This  plan 
the  empress  followed  strictly.  Her  edicts  against  the 
manufacture  and  use  of  opium  were  posted  in  public 
places  in  every  city  of  her  realm.  Opium  smoking 
was  fast  destroying  the  nation,  and  all  Christian  people 
rejoiced  that  China  was  at  last  to  be  freed  from  its 
curse.  They  hoped  young  men  and  boys  might  now 
grow  up  to  take  their  places  in  the  world  without  being 
poisoned  in  body,  mind,  and  soul  by  the  dreadful  drug. 

However,  the  queen's  scarlet  posters  had  scarcely 
become  w^eather-stained  by  sun  and  rain  before  the  great 
city  in  which  A'Tau  lived  was  stirred  by  the  arrival 
of  a  new  device  of  destruction.  Almost  in  a  day,  on  the 
gates  and  walls  of  the  city  and  the  sides  of  buildings  in 
every  street  were  pasted  gay  pictures.  Many  of  these 
pictures  represented  beautiful  women  dressed  in  bright 
colors  and  adorned  with  glittering  jewels. 

This  was  something  new  to  the  Chinese.  Their 
refined  women  are  modest  and  retiring.  They  seldom 
go  about  the  streets,  and  then  only  when  accompanied 
by  other  women.  Groups  of  men  and  boys  gathered 
before  the  gay  posters,  wondering  how  it  was  that  these 


The  Hunchback  213 

fine  foreign  ladies  had  caused  their  pictures  to  be 
displayed  in  this  land  of  China. 

In  reply  to  their  questions,  the  director  in  charge  of 
posting  the  advertisements  tossed  a  shower  of  tiny 
packages  into  the  crowd. 

"Ah,  it's  smoke!"  announced  one  who  had  quickly 
opened  a  neatly  sealed  package  and  sniffed  its  contents. 
"  Foreign  smoke  —  such  a  good  flavor !  "  and  he  pro- 
ceeded to  try  one.  A  lively  scramble  followed  as  an- 
other shower  of  cigarette  samples  came  raining  down 
to    meet    the    outstretched    hands. 

The  foreign  man  noticed  the  crippled  boy  on  the 
outer  edge  of  the  group.  He  tossed  a  bright,  silvery 
package  into  the  boy's  outstretched  hands.  A'Tau's 
eyes  smiled  the  "  Thank  you  '  his  lips  spoke.  Another 
followed,   lighting   at   his   feet. 

That  was  the  beginning  of  the  unlucky  turn  which 
determined  that  Hunchback  could  never  be  a  judge  or 
any  other  person  of  honor  in  his  nation.  The  poison 
of  the  cigarette  smoke  fastened  itself  upon  his  weak 
body.  A  craving  was  created  that  nothing  but  more  of 
the  same  poison  could  satisfy.  He  did  not  care  for 
books  now,  and  when  the  teacher  beat  him  for  lazing 
at  his  study,  he  stayed  away  from  school.  Every  cash 
piece  he  could  coax  from  his  parents  or  find  where  it 
was  not  lost,  he  spent  for  smoke. 

A'Tau's  face  grew  paler,  his  arms  stretched  longer 
and  leaner.  His  legs  became  more  and  more  spider- 
like. While  the  other  boys  enjoyed  their  games,  he  sat 
discontentedly  looking  on.  His  eyes  became  dull.  He 
began  to  cough  badly.  His  chest  became  hollow,  and 
the  hump  on  his  back  grew  higher. 

"  Your   son   is   not   well.      You   had    better   take   him 


214 


A'Chu  and   Other-  Stories 


to  see  the  foreign  doctor,"  a  missionary  said  to  the  fish 
seller  one  day. 

*'  It  is  of  no  use,  entirely  of  no  use.  He  only  eats 
too  much  smoke,"  he  replied,  with  a  gesture  that  plainly 
meant,  *' Away  with  your  foreigners!  Do  not  talk  to 
me.  What  faith  have  I  in  your  missionary  doctors,  or 
in  your  Christian  religion,  either?  Your  foreign  cig- 
arettes are  killing  my  boy.  How  shall  I  know  the 
foreigner's  doctor  or  his  religion  will  prove  to  be  better 
than  his  smoke?  " 

And  so  the  evil  practice  went  on,  as  it  has  gone  on 
in  other  countries,  and  the  end  is  not  yet. 


THE   SAMPAN   GIRL'S   LULLABY 

A  GROUP  of  sampan  children  left  their  house-boats 
toward  evening  of  a  sultry  afternoon,  and  came 
ashore  to  stretch  their  legs.  Just  at  the  point  where 
our  house  stands  there  is  a  considerable  open  space  be- 
tween the  row  of  houses  on  one  side  and  the  bund  wall 
along  the  shore  of  Pearl  River.  A  sharp  turn  in  the 
wall  a  short  distance  upstream  swings  the  strong  current 
out  into  the  deep  channel,  leaving  below  a  quiet  spot 
where  the  house-boats  gather  for  anchorage.  This 
angle  in  the  wall  is  known  as  Tung  Shek  Kok  (liter- 
ally. East  Stone  Corner),  and  gives  its  name  to  this 
section  of  the  city.  The  open  space  on  the  bund, 
besides  answering  for  many  other  purposes,  is  in  par- 
ticular the  special  recreation  grounds  for  the  sampan 
children. 

That  afternoon  the  tropical  sun  had  shone  with  mid- 
summer brightness,  and  the  smooth  surface  of  the  water 
sent  back  its  reflection  in  dazzling  whiteness.  The  boat 
people  pulled  out  the  extension  roofs  of  their  crafts, 
and  remained  under  cover,  drinking  tea  and  fanning 
themselves.  Babies  cried,  mothers  fretted,  and  the  older 
women  scolded.  To  be  sure,  there  is  not  much 
housework  to  be  done,  but  living  in  a  sampan  a  day 
like  this  is  not  altogether  pleasant.  Toward  evening 
the  cool  monsoon  from  the  south  sprang  up.  The  chil- 
dren scrambled  out  of  the  close  quarters  in  the  boats,  and 
capered  over  the  sandy  bund,  frisking  about  in  great 
relief. 

Some  one  said,  *'  Shuttlecock,"  and  presently  the  whole 
company  was  divided  into  convenient  groups  for  the 
game.   The   winged   cocks   began    to    fly   from   toe   and 

215 


216 


A*Chu  and   Other  Storied 


heel  and  ball  as  the  players  flitted  about,  striking  with 
left  foot  or  with  right,  forward,  backward,  upward, 
downward,  at  any  angle  or  in  any  way,  only  to  keep 
the  gay  toy  cocks  flying.  Heat  and  weariness  were  for- 
gotten, and  the  sampan  children  —  boys  and  girls  to- 
gether —  were  as  merry  as  only  Chinese  children  at 
shuttlecock  can  be. 

A  woman  came  out  from  one  of  the  boats,  carrying  a 
baby  on  one  arm.  With  the  other  hand  she  gathered  up 
the  long  red  ties  of  a  baby-carrier  and  languidly  trailed 
them  along  as  she  came  toward  the  children.  She 
called  peevishly,  and  a  girl  from  one  group  went  toward 
her.      Baby  was  set   into  the  soft  square  of   the  carrier, 


CARGO   BOATS 

Women  washing  clothes  at  the  river's  edge. 


The  Sampan   Girl  s  Lullaby 


217 


T.TTTT.F    nilXFSE    CTRL    CARRYING    RAT^Y 

On  the  Bund,  Hongkong. 

and  the  long  ties  were  passed  forward,  two  over  the 
girl's  shoulders  and  two  under  the  arms  around  her 
waist,  then  the  four  were  twisted  together  in  a  knot  at 
the  front,  wound  about  her  waist,  and  securely  fastened. 
In  this  way  the  baby  was  bound  snugly  and  tightly 
to  his  sister's  back. 

But  baby  did  not  like  it.  Who  would?  The  sister 
had  been  skipping  about  vigorously,  playing  shuttlecock. 
It  had  been  warm  enough  in  the  house-boat  with  the  sun 
beating  down  on  its  low  roof,  but  this  was  like  getting 
out  of  the  frying  pan  into  the  fire.     Baby  cried. 

"  Don't  cry,"  commanded  the  mother,  and  was  of? 
toward  the  street  market  place. 


218  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

Nevertheless,  baby  did  cry.  The  sister  soothed  and 
patted  the  restless  bundle  on  her  back,  coaxing,  "  Don't 
cry!  Don't  cry!  "  Finally,  she  decided  that  if  she 
waited  for  baby  brother's  consent,  she  would  miss  all  the 
sport,  so  she  ran  back  to  her  group  and  plunged  into 
the  game,  jumping,  striking  with  her  feet  right  and 
left  at  the  gayly  colored  cock,  driving  it  hither  and 
thither  and  springing  up  to  toss  it  again  exactly  as  if 
baby   were   not   there. 

The  baby's  head  bobbed  to  this  side  and  then  to  that, 
up  and  down.  Why  it  did  not  snap  off  was  a  puzzle. 
Was  it  because  his  neck  was  too  much  stretched  with 
trying  to  keep  up  with  his  body?  For  some  reason  he 
seemed  to  have  stopped  crying,  and  for  a  few  moments 
the  game  went  on  merrily.  Then  he  began  again,  and 
this  time  more  lustily.  Above  the  shout  and  laughter  of 
the  losers  and  winners  his  rebellious  cries  rose  in  protest. 
Without  a  word  or  signal  that  I  could  see,  the  game 
ceased.  The  players  picked  up  their  cocks,  and  ran  off 
to  a  spot  farther  down  the  bund. 

The  disappointed  sister  was  left  alone  with  her  noisy 
burden.  She  took  the  hint,  and  made  no  attempt  to 
follow  nor  even  to  look  after  her  companions.  Instead, 
she  patiently  hunched  up  higher  the  bundle  that  had 
settled  down  on  her  back.  Without  turning  her  eyes 
either  toward  the  market  street  or  toward  the  gay 
shuttlecocks,  she  stood  still  in  the  spot  where  she  had 
been  left.  Teetering  first  on  one  foot,  then  on  the  other, 
and  swaying  her  body  to  and  fro  as  a  cradle  rocks,  she 
patted  the  burden  on  her  back  soothingly,  first  with 
one  hand,  then  with  the  other,  coaxed  and  cajoled. 
Louder  and  louder  she  sang  till  the  shrill  voice  rose 
clear  above  the  babv's  cries: 


The  Sanipan   Girl's  Lullaby 


219 


"  Mother  is  coming  by  and  by, 
By  o'by,  by  o'by; 
Fast  as  the  wings  of  wind  can  fly, 
Hush,  baby  boy,  don't  cry. 

"  Our  king  loves  the  baby,  so  he  does 
Hush,  little  boy,  don't  cry; 
The  governor,  too,  the  baby  loves. 
So  there,  little  boy,  don't  cry. 


"  Nothing  shall  harm  the  baby  dear, 
Dear  little  boy,  don't  cry; 
Bad  spirits  are  gone,  and  the  gods 
draw  near; 
Good  little  boys  won't  cry." 

—  Translated  by  the  Author. 


x:xr 


Chinese  Infant  Rhymes 

TRANSLATED     BY    THE     AUTHOR 

D 

PAT-A-CAKE 

Clap,  little  one;  little  one,  clap. 

Go  buy  a  small  fish. 

If  the  fish  has  no  flavor, 

Go  buy  a  sweet  olive. 

Is  the  big  olive  sweet? 

Then  take  another. 

When  the  man  gives  no  more, 

Ask  for  your  cash  back  again; 

Go  another  place. 

Buy  a  sweet  bite. 

Sweet  how  long?      Sweet   three   years. 


TEACHING   BABY    TO    WALK 

Toddling^  toddling,  you  an  orange  meet, 
Golden  orange,  good  and  sweet. 
Path  is  pleasant,  safe  to  feet. 

221 


THE  BETROTHAL  OF  A'LAI 

LAI,  or  A'Lai,  as  the  name  is  commonly  spoken  in 
the  native  tongue,  was  the  youngest  child  in 
Cheung  Lun's  family.  Cheung  A'Lai  is  her  full  name. 
The  name  Lai  means  "  the  little  one."  To  be  exact, 
it  means  "  the  runt,"  and  describes  the  wee,  puny  one 
of  a  litter  of  young  animals.  The  name  was  given  her 
not  only  because  she  was  the  youngest  of  her  family, 
but  also  because  she  was  a  delicate  child  and  small  of 
her  age.  Had  she  grown  plump  and  strong  by  the 
time  she  was  ten  years  of  age,  her  name  would  doubtless 
have  been  changed  to  something  more  becoming  her  ap- 
pearance.    As  it  is,   she   has   been   called   just  A'lai. 

Cheung  was  the  father's  name.  Indeed,  that  was  the 
surname  of  half  the  dwellers  of  a  certain  country  village 
near  the  North  River. 

The  dwellers  of  the  other  half  of  this  particular  vil- 
lage were  surnamed  Chan.  Now  the  clan  of  Chan  is 
mentioned  here  because,  as  you  shall  see,  it  has  some- 
thing to  do  with  the  story  of  A'Lai's  betrothal. 

A  shallow  brook  ran  through  the  village,  and  formed 
the  natural  boundary  between  them.  The  Cheungs 
lived  on  this  side  the  stream,  and  the  Chans  lived  on  that 
side.  There  had  been  no  serious  quarrel  between  the 
clans  for  more  than  a  generation,  and  so  a  stone  foot- 
bridge had  been  built  over  the  brook. 

This  was  done  more  as  a  pledge  of  confidence,  each 
in  the  other  clan's  friendship,  than  for  any  real  need  of 
a  bridge.  It  was  as  if  the  Cheungs  had  said,  "  We  trust 
you  Chans.  We  believe  you  are  our  friends.  We  will 
build  a  bridge  that  you  may  cross  into  our  village  at 
your  pleasure."     And  as  if  the  Chans,  not  willing  to  be 

223 


224 


A'Chu  and   Other  Stories 


MO. MEN    CARRIERS 


WOMEN   UNT.OAPING  CARGO 


The  Betrothal  of  A' Lai  225 

outdone  by  the  good  will  of  the  Cheungs,  replied,  "  Not 
so;  but  we  will  build  our  half  of  the  bridge,  and  the 
Cheungs  shall  be  our  friends  alway." 

This  bridge  was  seldom  used  except  on  occasions  of 
betrothals  and  marriage  feasts.  At  such  times  it 
became  a  perfect  gala  way.  For  across  this  bridge  the 
sons  of  Chan  took  the  daughters  of  Cheung  to  wife, 
and  the  Cheungs  brought  over  Chan  girls  to  be  wives 
to   their   clan. 

For  all  this  friendly  exchange  of  daughters,  the 
boundary  line  of  the  clans  was  in  no  way  altered.  When 
a  Chinese  girl  is  married,  she  is  gone.  From  that  day 
she  belongs  entirely  to  her  husband's  family.  So  it 
continued  that  those  who  were  born  on  this  side  of  the 
brook  were  Cheungs,  and  those  born  on  that  side 
were  Chans. 

Only  the  brook  was  neutral.  It  shared  its  blessings 
freely  and  equally  with  dwellers  on  either  side.  The 
feathery  bamboos  grew  along  its  course,  tall  and  grace- 
ful, casting  their  cooling  shade  on  this  side,  then  on 
that.  The  Cheung  women  came  and  squatted  at  its 
edge  to  hear  and  tell  the  village  news,  the  while  they 
washed  clothes  in  its  clear,  soft  water.  The  Chan 
women  took  up  their  early  morning  congregation  on 
the  other  bank,  where  they  discussed  the  weather  or 
the  latest  betrothal  as  they  washed  their  clothes. 

But  the  stream  was  not  always  helpful.  It  some- 
times was  most  cruel.  For  when  the  spring  rains  come 
in  torrents,  as  they  sometimes  do,  by  the  time  this  brook 
reaches  the  Fa  Yuen  district  it  becomes  a  swollen  river. 
The  waters  break  through  its  banks,  and  spread  out 
over  the  ricefields.  Then  the  flat  country  becomes  a 
lake.     If  the  rain  continues,   the  water  rises  and   floods 

15 


226  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

the  mud  floors  of  the  village  homes.  Then  the  people 
make  fast  the  simple  furniture,  and  carry  their  clothing, 
provisions,  cooking  utensils,  and  fuel  to  the  loft  under 
the  roof,  or  even  to  the  top  of  the  roof.  If  the  flood 
continues,  the  growing  rice  crop  will  be  smothered  by 
the  water,   buried   in  the  mud    or  washed   away  by  the 


GATHERING    FUEL 


flood.  Then  a  famine  follows,  with  great  suffering 
among  the  poor. 

This  is  precisely  what  had  happened  at  the  opening 
of  this  story,  when  A'Lai  was  about  three  years  old. 
The  rice  crop  which  should  have  been  reaped  in 
December  had  failed  for  lack  of  rain.  .  And  recently 
the  floods  had  swept  away  the  spring  crop.  The  seed 
grain  sown  out  of  great  scarcity  and  privation  was  lost. 

Cheung  Lun  rose  at  the  rising  of  the  sun  to  look  out 
on  the  wreck  and  ruin  of  his  native  village.  The  lot 
next  his  own  was  vacant   now,   and   next   to   that  was 


The  Betrothal  of  A'Lai  227 

only  the  racked  wooden  frame  of  what  had  once  been 
a  comfortable  village   home. 

"  Good  luck,"  he  said  to  himself  consolingly.  His 
own  house  was  standing.     He  was  thankful   for   that. 

No  one  asked  what  had  become  of  those  who  once 
were  the  dwellers  in  these  and  many  other  desolated 
homes.  Cheung  Lun  shuddered  at  recollection  of  the 
piteous  human  cries  that  had  reached  his  ears  during 
those  fearful  nights  when  the  waters  raged  over  the 
village. 

The  man  turned  back  into  the  house.  Like  a  faithful 
wife,  Yi  Nai  had  risen  early.  A  kettle  of  water  was 
boiling  over  a  fire  of  sticks  and  stubbles  her  hands 
had  gathered  and  dried  in  the  sun.  She  turned  a  steam- 
ing stream  of  water  over  a  pinch  of  dried  leaves  in 
the  blue  flowered  teapot.  The  vessel  was  placed  in  a 
padded  tea  cozy  to  brew,  and  she  vanished  up  the 
stairs  to  the  loft. 

The  old  man's  eyes  followed  her.  She  was  the  young 
wife  of  his  old  age,  the  mother  of  his  only  boy.  More 
than  that,  she  was  also  the  mother  of  A'Lai,  the  pet  of 
the  household  and  the  joy  of  the  old  man's  heart. 

The  sun  rose  higher.  Men  and  women  crept  out 
from  their  storm-wrecked  homes  to  the  duties  of  the 
day.  Yi  Nai  came  back  from  the  loft.  She  turned  a 
cup  of  tea  and  brought  it  to  the  man  in  her  two  small 
brown  hands.  Then  she  went  with  her  boy  to  the 
fields.  More  yams  and  vegetables  must  be  grown  to 
take  the  place  of  the  rice  which  had  been  destroyed. 
The  older  girls  were  directed  to  gather  driftwood  or 
stalks  and  grass  to  dry  for  fuel.  A'Lai  had  been  given 
a  tiny  bamboo  stool  on  the  sunny  side  of  the  house, 
and  left  to  amuse  herself. 


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jiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiitiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii/ 


'IIIIIHIIIIIIIIItlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll^ 

iriiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitMiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii/ 


The  Betrothal  of  A'Lai  229 

The  master  of  the  house  sat  alone  —  sat  in  gloom. 
Suddenly  he  rose  and  found  himself  facing  the  family 
altar  with  the  ancestral  tablets  hung  above  it.  Yi  Nai 
had  placed  a  cup  of  tea  and  a  single  remaining  rice  cake 
upon  the  altar.  This  devotion  to  the  spirits  of  his 
ancestors  touched  the  old  man.  The  rebellion  in  his 
heart  burst  forth.  Seizing  a  bamboo  rod,  he  beat  the 
rafters  till  the  tile  roof  rattled. 

"Rice!  Give  me  rice!"  he  cried.  "This  house  I 
have  inherited  from  my  ancestors.  That  does  not  feed 
the  hungry.  Give  me  rice!  rice!  rice!"  he  clamored  as 
the  beams  echoed  the  strokes  of  his  rod. 

Cheung  left  the  house  and  walked  toward  the  bridge. 
Not  once  did  he  look  back.  And  A'Lai  —  she  was  too 
much  terrified  by  the  noisy  outbreak  within  to  call  after 
him,  though  he  was  never  used  to  passing  her  this  way, 
without  a  loving  word  or  caress.  She  shrank  as  he 
passed,  and  raised  her  arm  to  hide  her  face  behind  its 
wide  sleeve.  When  he  had  gone,  she  looked  after  him 
with  frightened  eyes. 

Still  he  walked  —  toward  the  bridge,  looking  neither 
to  the  right  nor  to  the  left,  but  always  with  his  eyes 
fixed  upon  the  earth. 

"  Good  morning,"  called  a  cheery  voice.  The  woman 
had  scurried  to  the  other  side  of  the  path  to  escape 
being  trodden  upon. 

"So  early  morning,  Tai  Yi  Ma?"  the  man  stam- 
mered, bewildered  at  being  .wakened  from  his  gloomy 
thoughts  by  the  very  one  for  whom  he  was   in  search. 

"Have  you  eaten  rice?"  The  friendly,  native  greet- 
ing struck  the  old  man's  heart. 

"  Have  eaten,"  he  returned  politely,  and  went  on 
his  way. 


230  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

But  the  air  of  resolution  was  gone.  "  Not  today. 
Today,  I  cannot.  I  am  still  able  to  walk,"  he  said  to 
himself,  as  if  to  excuse  some  show  of  weakness  he  had 
believed  overcome.  Was  it  the  soft  morning  air  that 
struck  him  chill?  He  pulled  his  long  sleeves  over  his 
hands  and  quickened  his  pace. 

Tai  Yi  Ma  knew  well  enough  that  Cheung  Lun  had 
not  eaten  rice  that  morning.  She  knew  that  neither 
he  nor  any  member  of  his  family  had  eaten  a  full  meal 
since  the  beginning  of  the  flood.  Because  she  knew  this, 
she  had  set  out  this  bright  morning  to  repeat  a  visit  she 
had  made  some  two  weeks  before  to  Cheung  Lun's  home. 

She  went  her  way  more  slowly  now,  mincing  her 
steps  more  daintily  than  before.  Magpies  called  from 
broken  boughs,  and  glossy  crows  winged  their  way 
lazily  or  swooped  low  over  her  head,  but  the  go-between 
neither  heard  nor  saw  them. 

*'  So  troublesome,  this  affair !  Why  should  he  try  to 
deceive  me?  Sooner  or  later  he  will  be  obliged  to  sell 
the  Little  One.  He  cannot  starve.  Neither  of  the  other 
girls  can  be  disposed  of  at  present.  They  are  at  the 
awkward  age, —  too  old  for  a  *  rearing-marriage  '  and 
too  young  for  wives.  No  one  is  buying  slaves  these 
hard  times.  But  I  may  have  a  talk  with  Yi  Nai.  She 
will  not  see  her  husband  and  son  starve  to  save  the 
runt."  Thus  the  woman  mused,  picking  her  way 
where  the  path  was  smoothest. 

Tai  Yi  Ma  was  a  professional  matchmaker.  She 
made  a  business  of  mating  young  couples  for  marriage. 
She  knew  the  tastes  of  men  and  the  hearts  of  women 
as  few  of  her  trade  do,  and,  as  a  rule,  Tai  Yi  Ma's 
matches  had  been  very  acceptable.  The  wealthy  Chan 
families  who  had  been  willing  to  pay  a  good  sum  for 


The  Betrothal  of  A' Lai  2^\ 

beautiful  wives  for  their  sons,  were  particularly  pleased 
with  her  selections.  This  present  undertaking  was  made 
difficult  by  what  she  considered  the  foolish  fondness  of 
the  old  father  for  the  little  Cheung  girl,  and  also  by 
the  small  amount  this  particular  Chan  family  was  able 
to  pay  at  this  particular  time.  For  the  flood  had  de- 
stroyed  the   rice   crop   on   the   Chan   side,    also. 

When  Chan  A' So  had  called  the  go-between,  she  had 
begun  with  a  long  story  of  her  husband's  sickness  and 
death.  She  was  still  paying  rent,  she  said,  on  a  place 
in  which  to  rest  his  coffin,  besides  a  fee  to  the  officer 
who  was  on  lookout  for  a  lucky  spot  for  the  tomb. 
Lastly  the  flood  —  everybody  blamed  the  flood,  although 
not  aloud,  lest  the  powers  of  the  wind  and  water  re- 
turn  and   punish   them. 

A'So  ended  by  making  Tai  Yi  Ma  understand  she 
would  confer  a  great  favor  by  searching  out  a  young 
child  that  might  be  had  at  a  moderate  price  to  be  reared 
as  a  daughter  in  Chan  A'So's  family.  This  was  with 
the  understanding,  of  course,  that  at  the  proper  age  she 
would  be  married  to  the  eldest  son. 

Tai  Yi  Ma  had  accepted  the  honor  of  this  delicate 
undertaking  for  her  clanswoman.  She  had  promised 
to  do  her  best  to  find  the  most  beautiful  and  sweet- 
tempered  girl  in  the  village. 

If  you  had  met  Tai  Yi  Ma  that  morning  on  her  way 
to  Cheung  Lun's  home  and  asked  what  was  the  object 
in  buying  a  little  girl  to  be  a  young  boy's  bride,  she 
would  have  given  you  the  reason,  "  Because,  it  will  be 
cheaper  to  rear  her  than  to  pay  the  much  larger  price 
required  when  she  is  grown  up."  She  might  have 
admitted  also  that  Chan  A'So  had  just  enough  ready 
money  to  pay  the  smaller  sum  now.     If  that  were  spent, 


232  A'Chu  and   Other  Stories 

she  might  not  be  able  to  save  what  would  be  necessary 
to  buy  a  wife  when  the  time  came.  The  plan  was  for 
A'So  to  save  her  money  by  investing  it  in  the  child 
now,  and,  by  rearing  the  child  herself,  save  the  extra 
money  that  would  be  required  to  buy  a  grown-up  girl 
by   and   by,   when   the   time   for   marriage   should   come. 

She  might  have  mentioned  another  advantage:  Since 
the  daughter-in-law  will  probably  live  with  the  mother- 
in-law  all  her  life,  if  the  mother-in-law  rears  the  child, 
she  can  train  it  exactly  to  suit  herself. 

If  you  had  asked,  "Why  buy  a  girl  at  all?"  she 
would  have  looked  surprised,  and  replied,  "Why?  It 
costs  parents  a  lot  of  money  and  work  to  rear  a 
daughter!  Should  they  not  have  some  return  for  it? 
Besides,  if  the  young  man  or  his  family  cannot  get 
money  to  pay  for  his  bride,  how  shall  we  be  sure  he 
will  be  able  to  support  his  wife?"  No  doubt  she 
would  have  turned  on  you  with  a  question  in  her  own 
mind,  "  Is  it  true?  I  have  heard  it  said  you  foreigners 
give  your  daughters  away;  that  a  foreign  man  himself 
chooses  his  bride,  and  that  he  does  not  pay  for  her." 
If  you  acknowledge  that  she  is  partly  correct,  no 
doubt  she  will  receive  your  words  with  courtesy,  but 
in  your  absence  she  probably  will  say,  "  How  strange! 
In  some  things  these  foreigners  seem  to  be  civilized, 
and  yet  they  think  so  little  of  daughters  as  to  give  them 
away,  free  —  free  for  nothing!" 

By  the  time  Tai  Yi  Ma  reached  the  place,  A'Lai  had 
forgotten  her  fright.  She  was  playing  in  the  sunshine, 
amusing  herself  by  turning  the  pieces  of  driftwood  laid 
out  to  dry,  as  she  had  seen  her.  sisters  do. 

"  How  bright  and  active  she  is !  She  certainly  will 
be   industrious   when   she    grows   up,"    observed    the    go- 


7Vie  Betrothal  of  A'Lt 


233 


between,  pleased  to  have  discovered   another   good  point 
in   the   child. 

Just  to  test  her  temper  once  more,  the  woman 
stooped  and  pinched  the  child's  arm.  A'Lai  cringed 
and  drew  the  arm  close  to  her  side,  looking  up  with 
eyes  big  with  surprise.  She  was  not  used  to  being 
pinched. 

"  Good,  good  little  girl,"  purred  the  woman.  "  She 
certainly  has  a  mild  temper.  Cause  her  pain,  and  even 
then  she  does  not  cry.  Her  hands  and  feet  are  small 
and  finely  formed.  Her  face  is 
fairly  good  looking,"  she  went 
on,  counting  over  to  herself  the 
points  of  excellence  she  had  prom- 
ised Chan  A'So  to  look  out  for. 

Yi  Nai  with  her  boy  came 
back  to  the  house  for  a  drink 
of  tea.  A'Lai  reached  out  both 
hands.  "  Carry  me,  carry  me!  " 
she  pleaded. 

The  mother  gave  her  some  tea, 
then    placing    the    child    in    the 
baby-carrier    and    spreading    her 
small  limbs  to  either  side,  skilfully  swung  the  mite   of 
a  girl  onto  her  own  back  to  rest. 

"So  tired!  sleep,  sleep,"  soothed  the  mother,  reach- 
ing back  to  pat  the  bundle  on  her  back.  The  little 
black  head  dropped  on  the  mother's  shoulder,  and  the 
wee   one   was  soon   fast   asleep. 

"  So  thin  —  thinner  by  a  lot,"  remarked  the  go- 
between,  with  a  circular  motion  of  the  head  that  for 
an  instant  pointed  her  nose  directly  at  A'Lai.  "  You 
cannot   take   care   of   her.     Your   family   is   certainly   in 


234  A'Chu  and   Other  Stories 

great  trouble,"  she  continued,  with  a  show  of  sympathy, 
although  her  real  intention  was  to  excite  the  mother's 
pity  for  herself,  and  make  her  willing  to  accept  the 
offer  she  had  made. 

"  Great   trouble,    indeed,"   Yi    Nai   repeated    absently. 

"  I  met  Cheung  Lun  as  I  was  coming,"  the  go-between 
went  on.  "He,  too,  is  thin.  I  see  him  looking  very 
old  of  late,"  she  continued,  watching  the  young  wife 
through  a  narrow  corner  of  her  eye,  as  if  to  note  how 
much  more  tantalizing  her  victim  could  bear.  "  I 
saw  that  he  walked  very  slowly,  as  I  looked  back,"  she 
added  with  a  pull  at  her  garments  that  rattled  the 
silver  coins  in  the  pouch  hanging  to  her  belt. 

Before  Tai  Yi  Ma  left  Cheung  Lun's  home,  she 
had  persuaded  his  young  wife  to  promise  to  give  up  the 
Little  One  sleeping  on  her  back.  She  had  agreed  that 
the  baby  should  be  taken  across  the  bridge  to  become 
a  daughter  to  the  Chans.  In  turn  Tai  Yi  Ma  had 
promised  to  make  a  present  of  so  many  silver  round 
pieces  to  Cheung  Lun's  family,  enough,  she  assured 
the  mother,  to  keep  the  whole  family  till  the  next  harvest. 

The  old  man  heard  with  grief  what  had  taken  place 
in  his  absence.  Not  a  movement  of  muscle,  no  change 
in  his  features,  made  sign  of  the  sorrow  in  his  heart. 
No  true  Chinese  may  take  back  a  promise  made  in  good 
faith  without  becoming  a  rascal.  So  it  was  reported 
among  the  women  as  they  washed  clothes  at  the  brook's 
edge,  that  Cheung  Lun's  Little  One  was  betrothed 
to  a  son  of  Chan  A'So. 


Religious  Customs  of  the  Chinese 


A   QUEER   BIRTHDAY   PARTY 

A  GRAND  birthday  celebration  was  to  be  given 
for  an  idol  kept  in  the  big  temple  near  our 
home.  No  one  pretends  to  know  just  how  old  the 
idol  is.  It  seems  queer  it  should  have  a  birthday 
at  all,  since  it  never  was  born.  Everybody  admits  it 
was  made  just  as  any  common  object  is  made  —  of 
wood,  stone,  or  metal  —  I  am  not  certain  which  it 
was  made  of. 

The  people  of  China  understand  perfectly  well  that 
their  idols  are  the  work  of  men's  hands.  Sometimes 
they  show  us  the  stamp  on  the  base  of  the  image. 
This  explains  that  the  god  was  made  in  such  a  year 
in  the  reign  of  such  and  such  a  king.  But  though 
they  know  the  year  when  the  idol  was  made,  they 
do    not    know    the    day. 

Perhaps  they  will  call  attention  to  the  way  the 
idol  was  made.  It  may  be  a  "  molten  image,"  like 
the  golden  calf  of  Israel,  —  cast  from  molten  metals 
in  a  mold  of  clay;  or  like  the  cherubim  of  Solomon's 
temple,  it  may  have  been  beaten  out  of  a  single  piece 
of  metal.  All  this  shows  that  they  know  idols  to 
be  the  work  of  men's  hands.  But  even  so,  while 
the  Chinese  talk  in  this  way,  explaining  how  their 
gods  are  made,  guessing  at  when  they  were  made 
and  what  they  were  made  of,  still  they  insist  they 
are  alive,  and  delight  to  honor  them  with  feasts  and 
celebrations.  To  one  who  looks  on,  the  conduct  of 
the  Chinese  in  worshiping  their  dumb  idols,  appears 
like  a  little  girl  playing  mother  to  her  doll,  or  like 
the  small  boy  who  straddles  a  stick  and  makes 
believe   it    is   his   pony. 

237 


238  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

However,  idol  worship  is  really  a  serious  matter 
to  those  who  believe  in  it.  They  particularly  like 
to  believe  the  idol  is  very  old,  since,  they  say,  he 
must    have    grown    wise    in    a    long    lifetime. 

Once  I  asked  a  man  whom  I  met  at  a  small  shrine 
beside  our  street,  whether  he  thought  the  idol  in  that 
shrine  came  from  heaven  or  whether  it  had  been  made. 

"  Most    certainly,    it    is    man-made,"    he    said. 

"  Is  it  able  of  itself  to  move  about  from  place  to 
place?"    I    inquired. 

"  O  no,  indeed !  It  cannot  move  from  this  spot. 
We  must  bring  its  food  to  it,  and  ourselves  conic 
here   to   worship,"    he    replied. 

"  If  you  must  feed  and  care  for  the  idol,  how 
then  do  you  believe  it  is  able  to  give  you  the  things 
you    ask    for?  " 

**  Do  vou  not  understand  ?  "  and  he  looked  as  if  he 
thought  me  simple.  "  We  do  not  worship  the  idol, 
but  only  the  spirit  of  a  god  that  dwells  in  it.  So 
long  as  we  burn  candles  and  incense  and  bring  it 
food  and  drink,  the  spirit  continues  with  the  idol. 
If  we  should  cease  our  care,  the  spirit  would  become 
discontented  and  go  away.  But  this  idol  is  alive/'  he 
declared  energetically.  "  It  speaks  to  me  often  when 
I  am  at  home  on  my  bed.  It  has  promised  me  good 
luck.      Sometime   it   will   give   me   great   riches." 

This  is  usually  the  case  with  idol  worshipers.  They 
do  not  worship  their  gods  in  order  that  they  them- 
selves may  become  better  or  purer,  but  because  they 
wish  the  god  to  keep  them  from  losing  their  money, 
from  becoming  sick,  or  from  some  other  harm ;  or 
they  worship  because  they  hope  the  gods  will  give 
them     some     other     worldly     benefit     or     selfish     desire. 


A   Queer  Birthday  Party 


239 


It  was  in  the  hope  of  some  such  earthly  reward  that 
the  whole  neighborhood  around  the  big  temple  turned 
out  to  give  this  grand  celebration  in  honor  of  the 
birthday  of   their  god. 

The  god  who  was  given  this  birthday  party  is  kept 
in  a  shrine  facing  a  wide  door  of  the  temple  which 
opens    onto    the    street.      Once    this    shrine    was    bright 


BUDDHIST  PRIESTS  AT  WORSHIP 


red  decorated  with  gold,  but  now  it  is  so  grimed  with 
the  smoke  of  incense  and  covered  with  dust  that  one 
would  not  try  to  guess  how  it  did  look.  In  the  early 
morning  a  company  of  worshipers,  mostly  well-dressed 
women,  may  be  seen  before  this  shrine,  kneeling  low, 
till  their  foreheads  touch  the  brick  floor. 

A  number  of  priests  live  in  the  temple,  and  are 
supposed  to  wait  on  the  services  of  this  god.  But 
the  priests  like  to  drink  wine,   to  smoke,   and   to  shake 


240  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

dice,  better  than  to  work ;  and  so,  though  the  temple 
is  rather  grand  on  the  outside,  it  gets  very  dirty  on 
the  inside,  and  things  lie  about  in  slack  disorder. 

Once  a  year,  on  what  is  called  its  birthday,  this 
idol  is  given  a  celebration.  On  such  occasions  it  is 
taken  out  of  the  temple  and  carried  through  the  streets. 
It  is  supposed  to  bring  good  luck  to  the  people  living 
on  the  street  through  which  it  passes.  Naturally  the 
priests  promise  that  the  idol  procession  will  pass  the 
street  that  raises  the  most  money  to  pay  for  the  cele- 
bration. Rich  people  pay  large  sums  for  this  purpose, 
and  even  the  small  shops  give  more  than  they  can 
afford.  In  addition  to  their  gifts,  the  homes  and  shops 
hang  out  long  strings  of  firecrackers,  reaching  from  the 
top  of  the  doorframes  to  the  doorsills  at  the  bottom. 
These  are  fired  off  as  the  procession  goes  by. 

"  This  one  is  a  very  old  and  powerful  idol,"  the 
house  boy  had  told  us  the  day  before.  "  It  will 
come  past  here  tomorrow  morning.  The  procession 
will  walk  an  hour  [passing  the  house],  so  long  it 
is,"  he  continued,  with  evident  satisfaction  that  we 
would  have  the  opportunity  of  seeing  what  great  things 
his  people  could  do.  Perhaps  he  thought  we  would 
give  some  money  to  help  pay  for  the  expense  of 
the  parade. 

The  procession  was  announced  to  start  in  the 
morning,  but  we  knew  that  meant  it  would  start  any 
time  everything  was  ready.  We  also  knew  that  the 
fuss  and  noise  of  getting  ready  is  considered  quite 
as  much  honor  to  the  god  as  the  display  itself  would  be. 

There  is  little  outside  amusement  or  excitement 
for  a  missionary's  children,  and  ours  were  deter- 
mined  not   to   miss   the   sights   on   this   occasion.      Early 


A   Queer  Birthday  Party  241 

in  the  morning  they  gathered  their  playthings  into  the 
wide  veranda,  ready  to  look  out  at  a  moment's  notice. 
Play  with  everyday  toys  was  dull  in  comparison  with 
the  expected  show,  and  playthings  were  often  cast  aside 
while  three  white  faces  gazed  longingly  over  the  window 
sill  into  the  dull  street.  No  one  wanted  to  go  to  the 
dining-room  at  luncheon  time,  for  fear  of  missing  the 
sights.  However,  the  meal  passed  without  interruption, 
and  the  children  again  took  up  their  wait  in  the  half- 
open,  second-story  veranda. 

Suddenly  there  was  a  stir  below.  A  crier  ran 
down  the  street,  calling  to  right  and  left,  "  The 
idol  is  coming!  "  Following  closely,  five  men  rushed 
past,  the  two  in  front  clanging  brass  cymbals  while 
the    three    others    at    their    heels    piped    shrill    musettes. 

The  people  left  their  business  and  flocked  into  the 
street,  completely  filling  the  open  space.  But  a  band  of 
soldiers  soon  cleared  the  way.  First  came  a  company  of 
priests  with  clean-shaven  heads.  They  wore  bright- 
yellow  robes  and  wide,  rough  straw  hats  hanging  on 
their  backs.  After  the  priests  came  the  long,  long  pro- 
cession. 

First  in  the  line  was  a  row  of  young  children 
mounted  on  small  horses.  The  animals  were  covered 
with  richly  embroidered  tapestries  of  silk  over  their 
backs  and  sides.  The  bridles  and  saddles  were  gayly 
decorated.  The  children  were  little  ones,  some  of 
them  mere  babies,  not  more  than  two  or  three  years 
old.  All  were  dressed  in  bright  silk  garments  em- 
broidered in  silk  or  gold  and  silver  thread,  and 
trimmed  with  snow-white  fur.  Besides  the  one  or 
two  grooms  who  led  each  horse,  each  small  child  was 
attended  by  two  men,  one  walking  at  either  side,  each 
16 


242 


A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 


holding  a  small  hand  to  keep  the  little  onfc  from  fall- 
ing off.  Some  of  these  children  were  little  daughters 
from    the    best    homes.      Each    child    that    takes    part    is 


©  U.  &  U..  N.  Y. 

HALL   OF  THE   FIVE    HU>-DRED   GENII 

Images  of  "  the  five  hundred  early  followers  of  Buddha, 
who  sit  in  smug,  self-satisfied  poses  in  Flowery  Forest 
Monastery." 

lent  the  costly  garment  it  wears,  is  given  a  lot  of  good- 
ies to  eat,  and  a  present  of  money  to  take  home.  What 
is  of  greatest   importance   to  the  parents,   in   return   for 


A   Queer  Birthday  Party  243 

this  service  of  honor,  the  idol  is  supposed  to  bestow 
special  blessings  on  these  children  throughout  the  com- 
ing  year. 

A  great  many  rich  banners  were  carried  in  the 
procession.  Some  were  very  beautiful,  and  so  finely 
embroidered  by  hand  that  one  piece  must  have  re- 
quired the  labor  of  one  person  for  several  years. 
The  Chinese  dragon  was  represented  on  banners  car- 
ried high  on  long  poles.  The  raised  figures  of  this 
scaly  creature  were  embroidered  in  bright  gold  on  black 
cloth.  It  appeared  through  fleecy  clouds  of  silver  em- 
broidery, rushing  madly  with  wide-open  mouth  after  a 
bright-red  sun  at  the  farthest  corner  of  the  banner. 
Other  banners  bore  mottoes  in  large  gold  letters  on 
scarlet  or  blue  cloth,  but  many  of  them  were  intended 
only  to  add  color  and  show  to  the  long  line. 

Very  large  umbrellas,  meant  only  for  show,  ap- 
peared in  the  procession  now  and  then.  Each  of  these 
was  carried  by  three  men,  at  the  top  of  a  pole  much 
higher  than  the  bearers'  heads.  These,  also,  were  very 
gay,  flashing  in  the  sunshine  hundreds  of  tiny  gilt- 
rimmed  mirrors  sewed  on  in  the  midst  of  the  embroid- 
ery that  literally  covered  their  brilliant  tops.  Around 
the  edge  dropped  a  gay  band  of  silken  material  ending 
in    a   deep   scarlet    fringe. 

Quite  as  full  of  gay  colors,  reflected  by  as  many  glit- 
tering mirrors,  were  the  huge  fans  borne  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  gaudy  umbrellas.  The  umbrellas  and  big 
fans,  with  their  numberless  shining  mirrors,  added  a 
particularly  bright  touch  to  the  scene. 

Now  we  understood  the  house  boy's  meaning,  as  well 
as  why  the  procession  had  been  so  late  that  morning 
in  starting. 


244  AXhu  and  Other  Stories 

"  There  will  be  no  procession  today  unless  the  sun 
comes  out,"  he  had  replied  to  the  children's  inquiry 
why   the   parade   was   so   slow    in    appearing. 

'*  Why,  A'Lun,  why  won't  the  procession  come? 
It    doesn't    rain,"    the    children    urged. 

"  No,  it  doesn't  rain,  but  unless  the  sun  shines 
there  is  not  much   for   the   idol   to   see,"   he   explained. 

This  display  of  color  and  tinsel  was  to  be  given 
for  the  pleasure  and  satisfaction  of  the  idol.  If  the 
sun  did  not  shine  to  make  the  bright  colors  glow, 
the  mirrors  to  glitter,  the  gold  and  silver  thread  to 
shine,  and  the  precious  stones  to  sparkle,  the  god 
would  not  feel  that  its  birthday  celebration  was  very 
grand.  Consequently  its  blessings  would  be  stinted  in 
proportion. 

But  the  sun  did  shine  that  afternoon,  and  the  sight 
was  brilliant  enough  to  dazzle  the  eyes  of  anything  but 
a   graven   image. 

After  this  show  came  the  feast.  Immense  trays 
bearing  whole  roast  pigs  were  carried  by  four  men 
with  poles.  Carved  wooden  canopies,  almost  as  tall 
and  heavy  as  a  Chinese  bridal  chair,  were  reared  over 
the  trays.  Where  the  canopies  were  particularly 
large  and  heavy,  the  piece  was  carried  by  eight  men. 
Other  trays  held  roast  chicken  in  large  numbers,  or 
duck  or  goose  in  like  abundance.  Still  other  carriers 
bore  heaps  of  small  cakes  of  all  sorts  and  many  colors. 
Fruits  of  various  varieties  were  added  to  the  feast, 
and  besides  these  were  sweetmeats  and  delicacies  cal- 
culated to  tempt  the  appetite  of  the  most  particular 
god.  All  these,  and  other  things  too  many  to  men- 
tion, were  displayed  in  the  most  enticing  manner  in 
this  more  than  royal  feast, 


U.   «   U.,  N.  Y. 


THE  KING  OF  BEOOARS 


246 


246  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

As  the  procession  passed,  we  had  opportunity  to 
look  into  the  faces  of  the  men  who  took  part  in 
this  birthday  celebration,  and  to  see  for  ourselves  what 
kind  of  persons  they  were.  To  our  surprise  we  did 
not  see  the  neighborhood  shopkeepers,  nor  the  carpen- 
ters, stone  masons,  and  other  men  of  trades,  nor  yet 
the  working  men  of  our  street.  What  we  did  see 
w^ere  the  thin,  bony  bodies,  clawlike  hands,  and  sallow 
faces  of  opium  smokers.  Some  had  apparently  begun 
the  use  of  tobacco  when  they  were  young.  Their 
bodies  were  dwarfed.  They  were  humpbacked  and 
bow-legged.  Most  of  them  showed  dull  faces  and 
bleared  eyes.  Street  hanger,  beggar,  gambler,  thief, 
opium  sot,  —  these  were  the  characters  plainly  written 
on  the  faces  of  those  men  in  the  long  line  of  that 
idol    procession. 

To  be  sure,  bright  garments  borrowed  from  the 
temple  had  been  put  on  most  of  them,  so  that  they 
might  appear  beautiful,  but  underneath  were  the  soiled 
and  tattered  garments  of  worthless  men;  and  hidden 
deeper  down  were  the  hardened,  sinful  hearts  of  men 
who  had  forgotten  God.  They  served  in  the  idol 
procession  to  obtain  a  share  in  the  feast  when  at  the 
close  of  the  day  these  things  offered  to  the  idol  should 
be  divided  among  those  who  had  taken  part  in  the 
celebration. 

Clang!  clang!  clang!  sounded  the  big  brass  gong 
carried  on  a  pole  between  two  men.  After  the  gong 
came  the  idol  itself,  at  the  end  of  the  procession. 
All  that  gorgeous  display  of  color  and  art,  and  the 
long  line  of  good  things  to  feast  upon,  had  been 
passed  down  the  street  before  its  eyes  and  for  its 
gratification. 


A   Queer  Birthday  Party  247 

The  idol  was  a  little  ugly  black  image  seated  on 
a  big,  real-ebony  throne.  Over  it  was  a  canopy  of 
ebony,  wonderfully  carved  and  inlaid  with  mother- 
of-pearl.  This  was  a  very  heavy  piece;  and  to  show 
respect  to  the  god,  as  well  as  because  the  throne  was 
so  heavy,  not  less  than  twenty  men,  with  poles,  had 
been  set  to  carry  it.  As  the  procession  passed,  the 
crowd  pressed  together  again,  and  followed  the  sense- 
less idol  through  the  city,  back  to  its  home  in  the 
temple.  The  helpless  thing  was  set  again  in  its 
place  in  the  ding>'  shrine.  The  crowd  disappeared, 
and    gradually    the    streets    became    quiet    as    before. 

Just  before  sunset  the  idol  was  taken  out  again  and 
set  in  the  open  square  before  the  temple  doors.  At  this 
time  a  great  display  of  brilliant  fireworks  took  place. 
It  is  believed  that  whoever  catches  a  spent  rocket  as  it 
comes  down,  will  have  good  fortune.  To  the  Chinese, 
this  means  that  he  will  have  sons,  long  life,  happiness, 
riches,  or  whatever  he  most  wishes  for.  The  people 
fairly  trampled  upon  one  another  in  trying  to  catch  the 
pieces  of  scorched  paper  as  they  fluttered  back  to  earth. 

The  sun  dropped  below  the  horizon,  and  darkness 
came  down.  The  crowds  scattered  to  their  homes. 
But  in  mind  I  see  them  still  —  those  hopeless  faces 
of  women  who  are  the  most  sincere  and  devoted  idol 
worshipers  in  China,  and  those  other  hardened  faces 
of  men  whose  hearts  are  set  against  God.  There 
is  little  hope  that  these  wasted  lives  can  be  rescued 
and  brought  to  Christ.  But  above  these  I  see  the 
sweet,  childish  faces  of  innocent  boys  and  girls. 
Unless  we  stir  ourselves  to  teach  them  the  true  way 
of  life,  will  not  these,  too,  follow  their  idols,  past 
all  help  of  turning,  on  to  sin  and  death? 


WAYS   THAT  ARE   STRANGE 

SOME  things  the  Chinese  do  seem  strange  to  us 
who  live  at  the  opposite  side  of  the  earth.  We 
call  them  our  "  antipodes,"  a  word  which  means, 
literally,  *'  opposite  feet,"  for  the  Chinese  are  the  people 
whose  feet  are  opposite  ours  on  the  earth's  surface. 
They  get  up  in  the  morning  when  we  go  to  bed  at 
night.  Their  children  play  or  go  to  school  while  we 
sleep  at  night.  This  seemed  very  strange  to  me  when 
a  child.  Nor  could  I  understand  how  people  are 
able  to  live  with  their  feet  standing  up  and  their 
heads  hanging  down.  What  a  topsy-turvy  place  it 
must  be  where  people  do  everything  exactly  upside 
down! 

Later,  when  I  went  to  China,  things  did  not  seem 
so  strange  as  my  childish  imagination  had  pictured.  To 
the  Chinese,  down  is  toward  his  feet  and  the  center 
of  the  earth,  the  same  as  it  is  to  us;  up  is  the  direction 
in  which  his  head  points,  toward  the  sky.  In  China  rain 
falls  down  and  smoke  goes  up.  Everything  in  nature 
moves  in  an  orderly  way  and  right  side  up,  just  as  it 
does  in  our  own  land. 

In  some  respects  the  Chinese  people  themselves  are 
not  so  very  different  from  the  inhabitants  of  our  half 
of  the  globe.  To  be  sure,  every  man,  woman,  and 
child  has  black  hair,  dark  eyes,  and  a  yellow  skin. 
But  color  of  hair,  eyes,  and  skin  does  not  make  an 
individual. 

At  that  time  Chinese   boys  wore   the  head  smoothly 

shaved  part  way  back,  but  left  the  hair  to  grow  long  at 

the   crown.      This   long   hair   was   braided    in    a   queue 

to    hang    down    the    back.       But    does    the    way    one 

248 


IVays   That  Are  Strange  249 

combs  his  hair  make  a  difference  in  him  as  an  in- 
dividual? Suppose  a  boy  who  had  always  worn 
bushy,  touseled  hair  were  suddenly  to  have  his  hair 
cut,  neat  and  trim,  would  that  make  him  a  different 
boy?  Is  it  not  rather  the  way  persons  think  and 
feel   that   makes   them   what   they   are? 

WHAT    THE    CHINESE    THINK    ABOUT    GOD 

No  one  thing  that  people  think  about  has  so 
much  influence  on  their  ways  of  doing  as  does  what 
they  think  about  God.  So  in  this  case.  The  Chinese 
have  reasons  for  their  strange  ways,  and  most  of 
these  reasons  are  founded  in  their  ways  of  thinking 
about  God,  or  what  we  call  their  religion.  It  is  as 
if  they  looked  at  things  around  them  through  glasses 
colored  by  false  religious  ideas.  They  see  fairies, 
ghosts,  and  goblins,  smoke,  fire,  and  blood,  where  there 
is  only  clear  air   and  blue  sky. 

They  do  not  know  God  as  a  being  whose  eyes 
"  run  to  and  fro  throughout  the  whole  earth,  to  show 
himself  strong  in  the  behalf  of  them  whose  heart  is 
perfect  toward  him."  They  have  not  heard  the  word, 
"  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  be- 
gotten   Son." 

WORSHIP    OF    SPIRITS 

To  the  great  majority  of  the  Chinese  the  practice 
of  religion  consists  principally  in  the  worship  of  spirits. 
They  believe  themselves  surrounded  by  a  world  of 
spirits.  To  their  imagination  these  spirits  are  as  real 
as  are  their  living  friends.  Some  are  friendly,  helpful 
spirits.  To  these  they  pay  little  attention,  no  more 
than  is  sufficient  to  keep  them  friendly.  Unfriendly 
spirits   are   thought   to   be   always   at   hand   to   spoil    the 


250 


A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 


best-laid  plans.  To  bring  sickness,  accident,  and 
bad  luck  appears  to  be  their  special  delight.  These 
evil  spirits  are  the  object  of  constant  worship  and 
sacrifice,  in  the  effort  to  appease  their  supposed  anger. 
The  fact  that  spirits  ordinarily  may  not  be  seen, 
greatly  increases  their  terrors.  It  is  bad  enough  to 
be    hunted    by    an    enemy    in    .flesh    and     blood  —  one 

that  may  be  seen  and 
either  evaded  or  met 
openly  and  conquered. 
But  forever  to  be  in 
danger  from  invisible 
spirits  skulking  about  and 
bent  on  mischief,  puts 
one    in    constant    fear. 

DECEIVING  THE  SPIRITS 

The  man  who  under- 
takes a  journey  on  foot 
does  not  choose  a  short 
cut  by  a  direct  path. 
That  would  make  it  too 
easy  for  the  spirits  to  fol- 
low him.  Spirits  travel 
most  easily  in  a  straight  line.  They  are  likely  to  be 
confused  by  an  abrupt  turn  in  the  road  and  to  lose  the 
way.  For  this  reason  footpaths  twist  and  wind  in  and 
out  between  the  fields.  The  traveler  is  quite  willing  to 
walk  the  farther  distance,  and  by  a  winding  way,  if  by 
so  doing  he  may  be  at  peace.  He  chooses  the  crooked 
road  rather  than  be  troubled  in  the  way  by  spirits  that 
may  cause  him  to  lose  a  sandal  from  his  foot,  slip  on 
the  narrow  path,  or  fall  into  a  ditch  at  its  side,  to  break 


PROFESSIONAL  EAR  CLEaXER 


Ways   That  Are  Strange 


251 


a  cart  wheel  or  upset  his  loaded  wheelbarrow.  The 
Chinese  love  peace,  and  will  go  the  long  way  to  se- 
cure it. 

It  seemed  strange  to  us  that  the  large  boats  moored 
in  the  river  before  our  home  always  completed  their 
preparations  for  a  voyage  by  firing  a  string  of  crackers 
at  the  stern.     The  loud  bang!  of  a  very  big  cracker  was 


rx    THE    BARl'.EK    SHOP 


the  signal  for  the  boat  to  start.  As  it  swung  around, 
heading  out  to  sea,  handfuls  of  paper  scraps  were  thrown 
out  from  its  bow. 

Later  we  learned  that  the  firing  of  crackers  was 
intended  either  to  deafen  or  to  frighten  away  the  spirits. 
The  flying  papers  were  meant  to  attract  the  attention 
of  inquisitive  spirits,  and  so  give  the  sailors  an  oppor- 
tunity to  slip  out  of  harbor  unmolested.  This  is  a 
form    of   worship    intended    to    secure    a    safe    voyage. 


252  .rChu  and   Other  Stories 

Amon^  even  the  very  poor  of  China  a  large  sum  of 
money  and  much  .time  is  spent  in  the  efiort  to  turn 
away  the  anger  of  these  invisible  enemies.  A  few  in- 
cidents, such  as  missionaries  meet  almost  daily  in  their 
work  among  the  people  of  China,  will  help  the  reader 
to  understand  that  the  fear  of  evil  spirits  is  the  reason 
for  many  strange  doings  of  the  Chinese. 


MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 


WHICH    ONE    WAS    SICK? 

IN  a  quarter  of  the  city  across  the  river  from  our  home 
in  Canton,  a  native  woman  was  seated  at  the 
entrance  to  one  of  the  homes  of  wealth.  She  was  neat 
and  tidy  looking.  Her  nimble  fingers  sent  the  'needle 
flying  swiftly  in  and  out  through  the  brown  glazed 
fabric.  She  was  a  sewing  woman, —  one  who  goes  from 
house  to  house  making  garments  by  the  piece,  and  sits 
outside  the  door  at  the  side  of  the  street  while  she 
works. 

The  only  amusement  of  the  little  daughter  who  sat 
beside  the  woman  was  to  watch  passers-by,  and  her  only 
employment  to  thread  the  needle  from  a  skein  around 
her  neck.  The  mother  rested  the  short  moment  the 
threading  was  done,  and  then  the  needle  flew  again. 
The  pair  had  come  at  sunrise,  and  would  stay  till 
sunset. 

At  sight  of  a  foreign  woman,  the  little  one  twisted 
her  neck  stifHy,  and  gazed  up  curiously  from  under  her 
eyebrows.  There  was  a  large  lump  on  her  neck,  and 
her  head  was  tipped  to  one  side  to  make  room  for  the 
swelling.  The  shoulder  on  the  other  side  was  drawn 
up  rigidly  to  prevent  the  muscles  from  pulling  at  the 
sore  place.  Her  face  was  very  pale  except  for  a  flushed 
spot  on  each  cheek.  Very  thin  and  frail  she  looked, 
perched  on  a  tiny  bamboo  stool  with  neither  back  nor 
arm  rests.     Poor  little  thing!   I  thought. 

"  Allow  me  to  show  you  the  way  to  the  heal-sick 
house,"  I  said  to  the  mother.  "  The  doctor  is  there 
this   moment.      She   will   cure   your   child." 

I  had  just  come  from  the  doctor's  dispensary,  where 
a   waiting-room    full    of    mothers    and    their   sick    babies 

253 


254 


A^Chu  and   Other  Stories 


were  receiving  the  most  tender  and  skilful  medical 
treatment. 

I  meant  to  help  the  poor  mother,  but  she  did  not 
take  it  so.  Casting  aside  her  sewing  work,  she  sprang 
to  her  feet  with  startled  eyes.  Gesturing  with  her 
hands,  she  fairly  screamed,  "Who  is  sick?  You  only 
are  sick.  Get  away!  Get  away!  We  here  have  no 
troubles." 

This  is  strange,  1  thought.  How  can  she  deny  that 
the  child  is  sick  and  sufifering? 

A  workman  who  had  observed  the  incident  followed 
me  to  apologize  for  her  conduct.  Perhaps  he  was  a 
Christian,    I    do    not    know. 

"  Do  not  be  offended,"  he  said,  "  she  does  not 
mean  to  be  rude.  It  is  only  that  she  is  a  very  much 
fear-devils  woman.  She  fears  your  words  will  attract 
the  attention  of  evil  spirits  to  her  child,  and  so  she 
thinks  they  will  gather  around  it  and  cause  it  to  die. 
She  loves  her  child.  She  called  you  the  sick  one, 
hoping  the  evil  spirits  may  be  deceived,  and  follow 
away  after  you.  You  teachers  are  not  afraid  of  spirit- 
devils,   are  you?"   he   added,    reassuringly. 


■ 

P 

T^fTO 

^XS^ 

sssm**^^^!,^-^ 

A   BOPE   FACTORY 


WHY  AMAH  WAS  AFRAID   IN  THE   TENT 

THE  sun  beat  hot  on  the  rock-nubbed,  sand-patched 
hillside.  A  new  tent  with  a  fly  over  it  had  been 
pitched  near  the  house,  and  the  children  of  two  families 
had  gathered  under  it  to  play.  A  Chinese  woman  came 
out  to  sit  in  its  shade.  She  liked  to  see  the  children  play. 
Three  of  her  own  had  been  left  back  in  the  country 
when  she  came  to  the  city  to  find  work. 

**  Isn't  this  fine,  Amah?"  called  the  largest  boy.  He 
was  lying  on  his  stomach  on  a  spot  of  green  grass 
with  his  bare  feet  straight  up   in  the  breeze. 

**  Very  cool,  much  cooler  than  in  the  house.  The 
heavens  are  hot  today,"  replied  the  woman,  seating  her- 
self in  the  door  of  the  tent.  This  "  cloth  house,"  as 
she  called  it,  was  something  new,  and  the  sea  breeze 
was  refreshing  to  the  tired  woman. 

"  Tonight  it  will  be  very  hot  in  the  house.  We  could 
bring  out  some  mats  and  sleep  in  the  tent,"  suggested 
the  lad.  To  sleep  all  night  in  a  tent  would  be  quite 
an  adventure  to  this  boy,  accustomed  to  the  close  quar- 
ters of  a  missionary's  home. 

"Oh,  let's  do  it!"  chimed  the  other  children.  The 
children  all  spoke  Chinese.  Children  like  the  short 
words  and  running,  musical  tones  of  the  native  speech. 

"  Will  you  come.  Amah  ? "  asked  the  boy  on  the 
grass,  recollecting  it  would  be  dark  when  time  to  sleep 
came. 

"  No,  I  certainly  will  not  come."  She  spoke  decidedly, 
quite  unusual  for  a  Chinese  woman. 

"Why  not?  Please  come,"  he  coaxed.  "This  place 
will  be  very  cool." 

"  Humph !  "  was  her  only  reply. 

255 


■'r-i^ 


PVhy  Amah  Was  Afraid  257 

The  boy  turned  to  look.  Her  eyes  were  far  away 
and  her  face  looked  serious. 

"Afraid  of  the  dark?"  he  teased,  crawling  toward 
her  in  the  grass. 

"  Not  afraid  of  the  dark.  Of  the  dark  there  is  no 
cause  for  fear,"  she  added  cautiously.  "  But  I  would 
not  sleep  out  here  for  heaps  of  money." 

"  Of  what  are  you  afraid  ?  "  This  question  he  asked 
out  of  real  interest,  for  now  Amah's  eyes  looked  scared 
as  they  ran  out  over  the  hillside  and  down  among  the 
patches  of  grain  and  vegetable  gardens  as  if  search- 
ing for  something  of  which  she  really  was  very  much 
afraid. 

Amah  did  not  care  to  explain.  According  to  her 
way  of  thinking,  neither  her  fears  nor  the  things  of 
which  she  was  afraid  were  subjects  to  be  spoken  of 
aloud. 

"Ah,  ha!  Amah,"  the  bo/  bantered  thoughtlessly, 
"are  you  afraid  of  spirits?"  How  could  he  guess  the 
terrible  fear  in  her  soul  that  caused  her  face  to  pale 
at  his  words? 

"  Most  certainly,  I  am  afraid  of  devil-spirits.  I  would 
not  sleep  here  for  riches,"  she  declared.  Now  that  the 
two  dreaded  words  had  been  spoken,  there  was  no  more 
peace  for  her  in  the  cool  shade  of  the  tent.  She  got 
up  and  went  immediately  back  to  her  room  in  the  house. 

"  Don't  be  afraid.  Amah.  There  is  nothing  to  fear," 
the  children  called  after  her,  but  she  could  not  be  per- 
suaded to  come  back. 

The  fear  of  spirits  was  not  a  joke  with  her.  The 
farther  hillside  was  dotted  with  graves,  and  the  knolls 
out  among  the  patches  of  field  were  topped  with  tombs 
built  of  stone  or  brick  spread  with  cement.     Some  were 


258 


A'Chu  and   Other  Stories 


freshly  whitewashed,  and  set  like  marble  rings  in  the 
green-covered  mounds.  Others  were  crumbling  with 
decay. 

In  this  woman's  mind  a  spirit  hovered  over  every  one 
of  those  graves.  Any  moment  a  restless  spirit  might  go 
careening  over  the  hillside  straight  through  the  open 
tent.  Should  it  chance  to  be  a  bad  spirit,  or  a  good  one 
provoked  by  being  disturbed  of  its  rest,  something  ter- 
rible might  happen  to  any  person  it  encountered  in  the 
way.  That  was  why  Amah  was  afraid  to  stay  out  in 
the  tent. 


WOMAN    WATER    CARRIER 


WHAT   THE   WATER  CARRIER   FEARED 

A  DREADFUL  typhoon,  or  "  big  wind,"  as  the  word 
means,  swept  over  the  country.  The  sea  was 
whipped  to  a  mass  of  foam.  The  waves  rose  high,  one 
after  another,  with  great  gulfs  between.  They  shot 
out  frothy  tongues  to  lap  in  the  boats.  Seagoing  vessels 
were  tossed  about  like  corks  in  a  pool.  A  great  ocean 
steamer  caught  by  the  wind  was  lifted  completely  out 
of  the  sea  and  carried  over  onto  the  dry  land. 

There  was  no  sleep  for  the  sampan  people  that  night. 
They  bound  their  boats  together  as  they  lay  side  by 
side,  and  clung  to  the  shore  for  life.  Some  lost  their 
hold,  and  were  swept  away  by  the  storm. 

At  last  the  darkness  passed.  The  wind  had  fled  with 
its  prey.  The  sun  rose  to  warm  and  cheer  the  earth 
once  more. 

The  water-woman  came  to  fill  the  water  jars.  We  al- 
ways called  her  the  water-woman,  though  I  suppose  she 
had  a  real  name  of  her  own.  She  made  a  business  of 
carrying  water  for  the  neighborhood.  Twice  a  week 
and  on  the  evening  before  wash  day  she  brought  water 
from  the  river  to  fill  the  big  stone  jars  that  contained 
the  water  supply  for  our  household  purposes. 

This  morning  she  slipped  stealthily  through  the  gates, 
and  very  quietly  set  down  her  two  buckets  inside.  Turn- 
ing quickly,  she  pulled  the  two  doors  together  and  barred 
the  gate  behind  her.  She  seemed  to  feel  herself  in 
danger  of  something  I  could  not  see.  As  she  turned 
to  lift  the  burden  again,  I  met  her  in  the  doorway. 
Perhaps  she  felt  compelled  to  explain  her  mysterious 
conduct,  or  did  she  hope  to  find  comfort  from  sharing 
her  fears? 

259 


260  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

"  Did  you  hear  it,  madam  ?  Last  night  there  struck 
a  very  big  wind,"  she  said  hoarsely. 

"  I  heard  it  —  a  big  wind  indeed !  "  I  answered. 

She  came  close  to  me,  for  she  dared  not  speak  aloud 
what  was  in  her  mind:  "  The  big  dragon  is  very  angry," 
she  whispered. 

"  Where  is  the  dragon  ?  What  has  he  to  do  with  the 
typhoon?  "  I  asked. 

"What!  You  do  not  know?"  She  seemed  surprised 
at  such  dense  ignorance  on  my  part.  "  The  great 
dragon  is  in  the  sea,  sometimes  in  the  sky.  He  has 
very  seldom  been  seen.  When  angered,  he  sends  out  a 
great  wind  or  beats  the  water  terribly  with  his  tail. 
He  it  is  who  brought  the  storm,"  she  explained.  "  Peo- 
ple say  he  is  terribly  angry  now." 

The  water-woman  could  not  read.  She  was  a  poor, 
hard-working  woman,  who  had  little  time  for  other 
things  than  her  water  buckets.  One  could  easily  ex- 
cuse her  for  believing  such  superstitious  stories. 

However,  it  is  not  the  poor  women  only  who  believe 
that  winds  and  storms  are  caused  by  an  angry  dragon. 
High  officers  of  the  government,  teachers,  merchants,  ship 
owners,  and  people  in  general,  live  in  constant  fear  of 
the  mysterious  dragon's  power. 


WHY  THE   FARMER'S   MULE   BALKED 

A  MULE  and  cart  stood  by  the  roadside  in  a  small 
country  village,  while  the  driver  unloaded  the  cart, 
piling  the  stalks  on  a  dry  mound  of  earth.  For  a  while 
he  worked  without  looking  up  or  taking  notice  of  what 
was  going  on  around.  Then  he  paused  and  pushed  back 
the  cloth  cap.  The  rabbit-fur  lining  fell  out  in  a  roll 
about  his  face.  Tabs  of  the  same  gray  fur  hung  down 
at  either  side,   like  the  ears  of   a  whipped   dog. 

The  mule  in  the  thills  nibbled  at  some  straws  of  dried 
millet  strewn  by  the  roadside.  Everything  was  all  right 
with  the  mule.  He  heard  the  stalks  scr itch-scratch,  as 
they  rustled  into  the  heap  at  the  side  of  the  cart.  Things 
had  happened  this  way  a  number  of  times  of  late.  The 
mule  guessed  his  load  would  soon  be  off,  and  he  could 
go  back  to  his  stall.  His  long  ears  dropped  languidly 
over  a  satisfied  countenance,  and  his  front  legs  relaxed 
comfortably.  Indeed,  his  whole  attitude  was  quite  in 
contrast  with  the  worried  disappointment  of  his  tired 
master. 

As  may  easily  be  imagined,  the  man  himself  was  not 
at  all  satisfied  or  comfortable.  The  rent  was  due  on  his 
plot  of  ground  and  his  miserable  hovel.  A  family  of 
children,  with  ever-hollow  stomachs,  were  waiting  to  be 
fed.  More  than  this,  debts  must  be  paid,  or  the  small 
mule  and  cart  would  be  sold  to  pay  his  creditors.  These 
had  been  his  principal  means  of  income.  What  could 
he  do  without  them?  His  fists  clenched.  What  could 
he  do  with  them  if  the  mule  would  not  pull?  His  teeth 
gritted  as  the  heavy  jaws  came  together.  Drops  of 
sweat  oozed  from  under  the  rabbit-skin  lining,  and  trick- 
led   down   his    face,    at   the   thought    of    a   certain    old 

261 


A*Chu  and  Other  Stories 


COOLIES    CARRYING   CASES   OF  OIL 


woman.     She  it  was  who  was  the  cause  of  his  misfor- 
tunes, both  of  the  debt  and  of  the  balky  mule. 

This  man's  experience  had  been  unusual.  Chinamen 
seldom  have  difficulties  with  their  mothers-in-law.  Usu- 
ally the  wife  lives  with  the  husband's  mother,  and  must 
take  what  the  older  woman  chooses  to  give.  In  this 
case,  however,  things  were  turned  about.  His  wife's 
mother  had   been  so   overbearing  and   irritable   that  she 


The  Balky  Mule  263 

was  not  wanted  in  her  own  son's  home,  and  so  she  came 
to  live  with  her  daughter. 

Here  she  acted  in  the  same  disagreeable  way.  Noth- 
ing they  did  pleased  her,  and  she  would  do  nothing  to 
please  them.  In  keeping  with  the  usual  contrariety  of 
her  life,  she  died  at  a  most  inconvenient  time.  That 
season  the  dry  weather  had  burned  up  the  crop,  and  the 
money  required  to  give  her  a  respectable  burial  had  to 
be  borrowed  from  the  money  lender.  The  mule  and 
cart  were  mortgaged  as  security  for  the  loan. 

That  should  have  been  enough  mischief  for  one  old 
woman,  thought  the  farmer.  But  this  was  the  least 
mischievous  as  the  son-in-law  looked  at  her  doings. 
Hear  his  tale  of  misfortunes  as  one  by  the  roadside  heard 
it  that  morning: 

"  Ah,  ha,  good  morning,"  greeted  his  short  neighbor 
with   a  very  stout   front.     "Have  you   eaten   rice?" 

"  Not  yet,"  gloomily  returned  the  very  lean  man  by 
the  cart. 

"What's  the  trouble  now?  "  inquired  a  near-by  neigh- 
bor, who  knew  how  balky  the  mule  had  become  of  late. 
"Again  he  will  not  walk?  Beat  him  —  why  don't  you 
beat  him  ?  " 

The  owner  shook  his  head.  "  It's  no  use.  He  only 
kicks  and  plunges.  I  never  could  do  anything  with  that 
old  woman,"  he  said  gloomily. 

"What,  fear  he  has  a  devil?"  inquired  the  friendly 
neighbor.  He  was  used  to  thinking  that  explained  every 
unusual  occurrence. 

"  Right !  He  surely  has,"  returned  the  owner  em- 
phatically. "  He  was  always  a  steady,  hard-working 
mule  till  the  mother-in-law  died.  Now  he  is  ugly  and 
stubborn,    just    like    she    was.      Coaxing    is    of    no    use. 


264 


A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 


Beating  does  no  good.     Her  spirit  has  gotten  into  my 
mule.     Oh,  my  misfortune!  "  he  groaned  in  despair. 

In  some  such  way  the  Chinese  attribute  their  mis- 
fortunes, whether  sickness  and  death,  failure  in  business, 
or  loss  of  property,  to  the  influence  of  spirits.  It  is  not 
always  so  plain  as  it  appears  to  have  been  to  this  farmer, 
just  what  these  spirits  are  nor  from  where  they  came. 
It  is  not  like  the  Chinese  to  inquire  closely  into  such 
matters.  The  fathers  have  believed  lies,  and  their  chil- 
dren continue  to  be  deceived  by  them.  But  this  belief 
in  spirits  accounts  for  many  ways  of  the  Chinese  that 
seem  so  very  strange  to  us. 


©  U.   &  U.,  N.   Y. 

PORT    ARTHUR    HARBOR,    MANCHURIA 


MATCHING   WITS   WITH   THE   SPIRITS 

THE  Chinese  have  put  their  wits  to  work  and  in- 
vented all  sorts  of  devices  to  keep  the  spirits  out  of 
their  homes.  Paper  traps  are  fastened  to  the  doorframes 
to  entagle  them.  These  traps  consist  of  sheets  of  paper 
cut  into  alternating  slits  through  the  center,  leaving  a 
margin  intact  all  the  way  around.  A  sheet  is  tacked  to 
the  top  of  the  doorframe  and  a  short  way  down  on  either 
side.  This  stretches  the  slits  open.  Spirits  in  flight  will 
be  caught  if  they  attempt  to  come  into  the  house 
through   the   open   slits   in   the   trap. 

Another  trap  is  made  by  cutting  red  paper  into  strips 
about  two  inches  wide,  leaving  a  margin  at  one  side 
only.  This  margin  is  then  tacked  to  the  doorframe  at 
the  top,  over  a  broken  pane  of  oiled  paper  in  the  window, 
or  to  any  other  open  spot  in  the  house.  One  might  take 
the  fluttering  red  strips  for  some  simple  decoration  in 
honor  of  a  guest  or  the  birth  of  a  son.  Not  so;  they 
are  there  to  frighten  away  wandering  spirits. 

Still  another  device  is  watchmen  set  at  the  door  of  the 
better  class  of  dwellings,  as  well  as  at  the  openings  to 
temples  and  other  public  places.  Very  powerful,  warlike, 
and  fierce  they  look.  The  stranger  wonders  if  it  will 
be  quite  safe  to  pass  through  a  doorway  under  the  care 
of  such  dangerous-looking  guards.  But  the  native  trots 
by  with  his  burden  or  strolls  with  his  fan,  apparently 
unconscious  of  their  presence.  If  he  thinks  about  them  at 
all,  he  feels  the  safer  because  they  are  there.  Evil  spirits 
will  not  linger  long  where  such  hideous  and  fierce-looking 
creatures  defend  the  peace. 

"  How  did  the  Chinese  come  to  observe  the  strange 
custom  of  placing  watchmen  at  their  doors?" 

265 


©  u.  &  u. 


mm^^' 


■w  rm  '^^ 


•^-^-^ 


LOADED  WITH  CASES  OF  TEA 


The  twelve-year-old  lad  Is  carrying  80  pounds,  and  his 
father  350  pounds,  and  they  are  starting  on  a  400-mile  trip 
over  the  mountains  between  Tat-sien-lu  and  Yachow,  on  the 
Tibetan  border.     It  will  take  them  20  days. 


266 


Matching  Wits  267 

"  Long  ago,"  explained  the  teacher,  "  there  lived  a 
great  and  good  emperor  who  made  war  upon  the  ene- 
mies of  his  country.  He  successfully  beat  them  back, 
and  restored  peace  and  order  throughout  the  kingdom. 
His  people  praised  him  for  his  bravery.  They  loved  and 
honored  him  for  his  good  and  wise  rule. 

"  One  day  the  good  king  was  taken  ill,  —  very,  very 
ill.  The  fever  burned  in  his  veins.  Strange  noises  tor- 
mented his  ears.  When  he  closed  his  eyes  to  sleep,  ter- 
rible sights  crept  into  his  dreams.  Always  his  enemies 
came  sweeping  down  to  crush  him.  With  cries  of  alarm 
he  would  spring  from  his  bed,  and  stagger  toward  his 
armor,  only  to  swoon  in  the  effort.  Fever  and  delirium 
were  fast  wasting  his  strength. 

"  When  his  knights  heard  how  their  lord  was  tor- 
mented with  fears,  the  bravest  of  them  gathered  at  the 
palace  equipped  in  armor  and  bearing  their  heaviest 
weapons  of  war.  On  their  honor  they  promised  the 
king  to  guard  the  palace  from  all  danger,  to  keep  watch 
over  his  couch,  and  sleep  not  night  or  day  till  he  was 
well.  Their  promise  brought  quiet  and  peace  to  the 
king's  mind.  Under  guard  of  his  faithful  followers,  he 
slept  and  was  restored  to  health." 

Of  course  a  scheme  that  worked  so  magically  for  the 
king  would  be  taken  as  good  for  his  subjects,  too.  How- 
ever, since  the  enemies  they  fear  are  only  spirits  and  not 
real  living  Tartars,  the  people  use  sham  watchmen,  just 
as  they  sham  everything  else  for  the  spirits. 

As  one  sees  them  now,  these  watchmen  are  sometimes 
gigantic  wooden  figures,  painted  in  frightful  red  and 
black,  with  trappings  and  weapons  of  contrasting  colors. 
Before  a  very  wealthy  home,  the  yamen,  or  a  temple, 
they   may   be   cast   of   bronze   or   other   metal,   weather- 


268  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

stained  to  black.  Commonly  the  door  watchman  of  a 
dwelling  is  merely  a  cheap,  painted  figure  on  paper, 
tacked  more  frequently  to  the  inner  or  second  door  of 
the  dwelling. 

The  mention  of  a  second  opening  suggests  still  an- 
other device  for  preventing  evil  spirits  in  the  home. 
Often  a  short  partition  is  built  inside  the  door,  a  few 
feet  back  from  the  entrance  and  a  little  wider  than  this 
opening.  Spirits  in  headlong  motion  through  the  air 
are  liable  to  strike  this  partition  and  be  stunned  or  thrown 
backward  into  the  street. 

Once  in  early  spring  a  number  of  baskets  full  of 
long  flag  leaves  tied  in  bundles  were  set  in  the  open 
space  before  our  house.  The  hawkers  called  their  goods 
off  loudly.  The  people  came  in  an  almost  continuous 
line  —  men,  women,  and  children.  Each  person  bought 
with  the  most  serious  air,  bundles, —  one,  two,  three, 
or  more, —  and  passed  on. 

"What  will  they  use  those  sweet-flag  leaves  for?" 
I  wondered. 

Still  the  serious  faces  kept  coming  and  the  solemn 
figures  going,  till  curiosity  for  the  time  completely  over- 
came all  interest  in  the  language  teacher's  best  efforts. 
Seeing  I  was  more  occupied  with  something  in  the  street 
than  with  my  lesson,  he  got  up  and  walked  to  the 
other  side  of  the  veranda  to  see  what  was  distracting 
his  pupil's  attention. 

"  Sir,  are  sweet-flag  leaves  used  for  medicine  in  this 
country?"  I  was  thinking  only  of  how  many  people 
must  be  ill  that  morning,  wondering  if  some  new,  ter- 
rible epidemic  had  broken  out. 

"  Not  for  medicine,"  the  teacher  replied  with  an  amused 
smile.      He  was   a  Christian   Chinese.      "  See,"   he   ex- 


Matching  Wits 


269 


plained,  "  the  leaf  is  shaped  like  a  sword.  The  people 
hang  them  by  a  string  from  the  top  of  the  doorframes. 
They  thrust  them  through  a  broken  place  in  the  win- 
dow, out  from  an  open  space  under  the  eaves,  or  through 
a  cracked  tile  in  the  roof.  One  of  these  sword-shaped 
leaves  is  put  wherever  a  spirit  might  be  able  to  creep 
through,  to  frighten  away  these  enemies. 

"  Our  people  of  the  Middle  Kingdom  [a  favorite 
term  for  the  Chinese]  are  very  much  afraid  of  devil- 
spirits.  Such  terrible  fear !  "  the  teacher  added,  looking 
on  sadly. 

There  is  hope  of  victory  over  an  enemy  of  one's 
own  size  and  strength.  But  with  such  as  these,  that 
may  creep  through  a  crevice  under  the  eaves,  a  cracked 
tile  in  the  roof,  or  a  torn  place  in  the  window,  the  Chi- 
nese feels  there  is  but  a  narrow  way  out.  He  must 
either  pacify  his  enemy  with  flatteries,  gifts,  and  offer- 
ings, or  outwit  him  with  tricks.  This  is  their  reason 
for   the   worship   of   spirits. 


MISSIOISr    IN   KIANGSU 


A    BEGGAR   IN    THE    SPIRIT   WORLD 

SOON  after  we  settled  in  Canton,  a  woman  fifty 
years  old  began  to  call  often  at  our  home.  She 
was  employed  as  cook  in  a  large  family,  but  during  her 
spare  time  she  came  daily  "  to  read,"  as  she  called  it. 
Though  she  made  little  advancement  in  learning  the 
Chinese  characters,  she  appeared  so  very  desirous  of  study- 
ing the  Bible  that  we  could  not  refuse  the  time  required 
to  teach  her. 

"  I  do  not  believe  in  the  idols ;  I  desire  to  enter  your 
church,"   she  said   frankly  one  day. 

I  told  her  how  glad  I  was  to  know  she  had  come 
to  believe  the  idols  were  vain  and  useless  things,  and 
hoped  she  might  soon  learn  to  love  and  obey  the  true 
God.  But  she  must  be  patient  and  study,  I  explained. 
There  would  be  time  enough  to  speak  of  joining  the 
church   when   she   had   learned   more   about   the   gospel. 

After  a  time  she  learned  that  missionaries  employ  women 
to  go  about  teaching  the  Bible  to  other  women  in  their 
homes.  She  came  again,  and  this  time  asked  to  be 
trained  as  a  Bible  woman.  All  that  she  would  ask  in 
return  for  her  whole  time  was  food  and   clothing. 

She  seemed  to  think  that  if  she  were  told  what  to 
say,  and  could  go  among  the  women  and  say  it,  that 
would  be  teaching  the  Bible. 

When  finally  she  was  made  to  understand  that  no  one 
who  cannot  read  is  prepared  to  go  out  as  a  teacher, 
she  still  remained  steadfast  in  her  purpose.  She  was 
willing  to  study,  she  said,  till  she  could  read  "  the 
Holy  Book." 

Why  was  she  so  persistent  in  wishing  to  study? 
It  seemed  impossible  for  her  to  remember  the  names  of 
270 


A   Beggar  in  the  Spirit   World  271 

only  two  or  three  characters  from  one  day  to  the  next. 
More  than  this,  the  Chinese  are  a  thrifty  people.  Why 
was  she  ready  to  work  for  a  bare  living  —  food  and 
clothing  and  shelter,  with  no  money  at  all?  It  seemed 
quite  clear  we  did  not  yet  understand  the  woman's  real 
motive. 

At  the  next  visit  the  whole  truth  came  out.  On  this 
occasion  she  seemed  to  have  lost  interest  in  reading. 
She  proposed  to  do  our  family  work  —  washing,  ironing, 
cooking,  anything  we  might  ask.  As  before,  all  the 
pay  required  would  be  shelter,   food,  and  clothes. 

She  seemed  to  be  much  disappointed  when  her  offer 
was  not  accepted  at  once.  While  I  tried  to  teach  her, 
she  sat  thinking  her  own  thoughts,  which  from  the  ex- 
pression on  her  face  I  concluded  were  not  very  cheer- 
ful ones.  Finally  she  broke  out  suddenly  with  the  ques- 
tion, "  Will  you  take  care  of  your  church  members  if 
they  get  sick  ?  " 

She  was  told  the  gospel  teaches  Christians  to  help 
one  another  in  trouble.     Her  face  grew  brighter. 

"  Would  Christians  buy  a  coffin  for  a  church  member 
too  poor  to  pay  for  his  own  burial?" 

That,  too,  might  be,  if  necessary. 

"  Would  the  church  provide  also  for  the  regular  wor- 
ship of  the  spirit  of  one  so  poor?  " 

Now  the  secret  was  out.  This,  then,  was  her  real 
object.  She  was  willing  to  become  a  slave  in  this  life, 
if  by  such  means  she  might  escape  being  a  wandering 
beggar  in  the  spirit  world. 

This  woman  had  never  been  married,  had  no  child  of 
her  own,  and  was  too  poor  to  buy  a  boy  to  adopt  as 
a  son.  When  an  infant  she  had  been  sold  into  a  strange 
family.     She  did  not  know  of  one  living  relative.     Now 


272 


A^Chu  and  Other  Stories 


she  was  growing  old.  The  time  might  come  when  she 
would  not  be  able  to  work  longer.  Who  would  care 
for  her  then?     She  felt  sad  and  lonely  at  the  thought. 

That,  however,  was  but  a  light  thing  in  comparison 
with  what  she  feared  in  the  spirit  world.  To  be  a 
homeless,  helpless,  wandering  beggar  in  the  spirit  world 
—  to  beg,  and  want,  and  suffer,  and  perhaps  finally  to 
become  a  cruel  and  hateful  spirit,  going  up  and  down 
the  world  doing  mischief,  was  more  than  the  kind-hearted 
working  woman  could  bear  to  think  of.  She  was  will- 
ing to  give  up  the  last  pleasure  or  comfort  in  this  life, 
and  to  endure  any  hardship,  if  so  she  might  escape  such 
a  fate  in  the  spirit  world.  Would  she  count  any  sac- 
rifice too  great,  think  you,  to  win  everlasting  joy  in  the 
kingdom   of   the  redeemed? 

It  gives  the  missionary  great  satisfaction  to  point  such 
lonely  and  troubled  hearts  to  the  promises  of  God. 
This  promise  of  our  Saviour,  "  In  my  Father's  house 
are  many  mansions.  ...  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you. 
...  I  will  come  again,  and  receive  you  unto  myself," 
seemed  very  cheering  and  comforting  to  this  lonely 
woman. 


THE  BOADWAY  TO  MING  TOMBS,   NANKING 


THE  WORSHIP  OF  ANCESTORS 

THE  day  was  clear  and  bright,  and  though  March 
had  scarcely  come  to  its  close  in  South  China,  the 
air  was  soft  and  warm,  as  of  early  June  days  in  Amer- 
ica. It  was  just  such  a  day  as  makes  the  boys  "  at 
home  "  hate  books,  plan  hikes  and  camps,  or  wish  they 
could  go  fishing.  The  breeze  that  winged  over  the 
river  and  softly  up  through  the  open  windows  of  our 
veranda,  was  the  kind  that  tempts  girls  to  wander, 
gathering  the  wild  flowers  spring  has  set  to  bloom  by 
rippling  streams. 

The  witchery  of  spring  was  in  the  air  that  morning. 
The  lesson  was  dull.  My  usually  interesting  teacher 
seemed  unusually  stupid.  "  Come !  "  said  my  better-self 
to  my  indolent-self,  "  you  are  not  a  schoolgirl.  This 
man  is  paid  to  teach  you  the  Chinese  language.  You 
must  make  the  best  use  of  his  time." 

With  rebukes  and  arguments  I  urged  myself  to  listen 
more  carefully  and  to  fix  my  attention  on  the  strange- 
looking  characters  lined  up  and  down  the  page. 

But  the  teacher,  too,  seemed  to  be  thinking  of  other 
things.  More  than  once,  while  trying  to  say  a  long,  hard 
sentence  after  him,  I  caught  his  eyes  wandering  to  the 
other  side  of  the  river  where  the  bank  looked  green. 

"  Madam,  you  know,  or  not  know,  today  is  Tang- 
man's  [a  favorite  term  for  the  Chinese]  Feast  of  the 
Tombs?" 

"  Not  know,"  I  replied,  and  went  on  saying  the 
words  as  if  very  much  interested  in  the  lesson  study. 
However,  those  strange  words  kept  coming  back  to  me. 
"The  Feast  of  Tombs" — what  could  it  mean?  I  re- 
called the  story  of  the  demoniac  who  lived  among  the 
18  273 


274 


A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 


tombs  and  cut  himself  with  stones.  But  would  any  one 
think  of  going  to  the  graveyard  for  a  picnic,  or  what 
the  Chinese  might  call  a  feast? 

From  my  seat  by  the  window  it  was  easy  to  see  things 
were  not  going  on  in  everyday  fashion  in  the  street 
below.     Fewer  men  were  carrying  burdens.     More  peo- 


STONE  ELEPHANT 

One  of  the  Sacred  Stone  Elephants  Which  Guard  the 
Entrance  to  the  Ming    Tombs,  Nanking. 

pie  wore  dress-up  clothes.     They  walked  more  leisurely, 
and  greeted  each   other  more  friendly   than   usual. 

Men  and  boys  carrying  spades,  rakes,  and  hoes,  mor- 
tar and  trowels,  were  going  in  the  same  direction  with 
women  and  girls  carrying  baskets  filled  to  the  brim  with 
the  eatables  the  Chinese  like  best.  They  seemed  to 
move  in  groups,  men  and  boys  leading  the  way  and 
women  and  girls  in  bright  new  clothes  following  after. 
Gentlemen  in  long  robes  of  silk  walked  with  coolies  in 


The  Worship  of  Ancestors 


275 


blue  cotton  clothes.  Women  of  wealth  and  their  daugh- 
ters in  sedan  chairs  were  followed  by  family  hired  serv- 
ants or  slave  girls  carrying  baskets.  All  appeared  to 
be  going  in  one  general  direction  toward  the  green- 
covered  hills. 

"Is  there  a  picnic  today?"   I   inquired,   in  the  midst 
of  a  sentence,  then  instantly  thought,  What  a  foolish  ques- 


:S 

i 

STONE    GUARDS 

On  the  Way  to  the  Ming  Tombs,  Nanking 


tion!  These  Chinese  are  too  hard  working  to  take  a 
day  off  to  picnic  with  their  families.  Besides,  so  many 
people  of  such  very  different  classes  would  not  be  going 
to  a  picnic  together.  "  Where  are  all  these  people 
going?  "  I  changed  the  question  before  the  teacher  had 
time  to  answer. 

"  You  do  not  remember  I  told  you  today  is  the  Feast 
of  Tombs  ?  "  he  said. 


276  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

"Pardon!  I  remember;  but  what  is  the  Feast  of 
Tombs?  Are  these  people  going  to  the  burial  grounds 
for  a  feast  ?  " 

"  Partly  so,"  the  teacher  replied,  half  closing  the  book, 
a  way  he  had  when  it  suited  him  better  to  talk. 

My  teacher  was  a  wise  man.  Though  he  himself 
was  a  Christian,  he  was  very  well  acquainted  with  the 
beliefs  and  customs  of  his  native  people.  He  knew, 
what  missionaries  should  early  learn,  that  it  is  quite  as 
important  for  us  to  understand  the  Chinese  way  of  look- 
ing at  things  as  it  is  to  learn  to  speak  and  so  be  able 
to  explain  to  them  the  Christian's  way  of  looking  at 
things.  In  other  words,  we  cannot  expect  them  to  un- 
derstand us  until  we  have  learned  to  understand  them. 

"  But,"  continued  the  teacher,  after  a  pause,  "  their 
real  object  in  going  to  the  hills  is  to  hold  a  feast  with 
the  spirits  of  their  dead  relatives  who  may  be  buried 
there.  This  is  the  Feast  of  Tombs,  or,  because  the 
graves  lie  in  the  hills,  what  the  common  people  often 
call  *  worshiping  the  Hills.'  " 

My  book  closed  now,  also.  The  evening  before  I 
had  heard  a  coarse  woman  living  next  door  to  our  back 
gate,  gibing  the  chapel  boy,  "  A'Wai,  A'Wai,  little 
brother,"  she  called  jestingly,  "  will  you  or  will  you  not 
worship  the  hills  tomorrow  ?  " 

"  I  not  go,"  the  boy  replied  emphatically,  and  dodged 
through  the  gate,  while  a  group  of  bystanders  roared 
with  laughter   at  his  expense. 

"What  was  the  joke  on  A'Wai?"  I  asked  later, 
when  I  met  the  woman  alone. 

"  Oh,  nothing,  only  he  doesn't  worship  the  hills,  that 
is  all,"  she  replied  with  a  sneer.  I  related  this  inci- 
dent to  the  teacher. 


The  Worship  of  Ancestors  277 

"  Yes,  the  man  who  becomes  a  Christian  is  perse- 
cuted on  account  of  his  disregard  for  ancestor  worship 
more  than  for  any  other  reason,"  said  the  teacher.  He 
becomes  the  object  of  ridicule,  and  is  pointed  out  as 
'  the  man  who  has  no  ancestors.'  To  the  Chinese  this 
is  a  more  stinging  insult  than  to  be  called  a  thief  or 
a  bad  man  of  any  other  sort. 

"  Ancestor  worship,"  he  continued,  "  is  the  most 
deeply  rooted  custom  of  Chinese  family  and  national 
life.  No  matter  whether  a  man  worships  the  idols  or 
not;  that  does  not  greatly  concern  his  neighbors.  He 
may  neglect  them,  scoff  at  them,  spit  on  them, —  no  one 
is  seriously  offended.  But  the  man  who  neglects  to 
worship  his  ancestors  excites  the  highest  contempt  of  his 
countrymen.  An  opium  smoker  or  a  gambler  may  neglect 
his  family;  but  he  is  a  bad  case,  indeed,  who  does  not 
worship   his   ancestors." 

I  was  deeply  interested  in  what  my  teacher  told  me 
that  morning,  as  we  watched  the  family  groups  on  their 
way  to  the  hills  to  worship,  as  they  supposed,  the  spirits 
of  the  dead  men  buried  there.  Later,  I  realized  that, 
as  the  teacher  had  said,  ancestor  worship  is  the  greatest 
barrier    to    the    progress    of    the    gospel    in    China. 

The  custom  of  ancestor  worship  has  been  handed 
down  from  the  early  days  of  the  nation.  At  first  its 
rites  and  ceremonies  were  performed  merely  to  show 
honor  to  parents.  At  the  present  time  the  Chinese  are 
noted  as  a  nation  for  the  reverence  they  show  to  parents. 
So  long  as  a  parent  lives,  father  or  mother,  his  or  her 
wishes  are  respected  by  all  the  household,  by  both  mar- 
ried sons  and  their  children  alike. 

No  aged  person  may  be  treated  slightingly  by  any 
respectable    Chinese.      The   aged    stranger    is   spoken   to 


The  Worship  of  Ancestors  279 

with  courtesy,  as,  "  My  aged  sire,"  or  "  My  honored 
mother."  A  coolie  carrying  a  heavy  burden  halts  in 
the  narrow  street  before  the  slow  steps  of  an  aged 
person,  and  calls,  "  Be  careful,  make  way,  venerable 
father,  for  my  burden  is  heavy."  The  elder  person 
returns  a  good  wish,  and  steps  aside  to  allow  the  la- 
borer to  pass.  The  most  severe  punishments  to  be 
thought  of,  are  inflicted  on  those  guilty  of  dishonor  to 
parents. 

However,  in  the  long  course  of  years  the  Chinese 
have  changed  their  ideas  respecting  the  object  of  an- 
cestor worship.  They  have  now  come  to  believe  that 
the  forefathers  who  have  died  possess  far  greater  power 
in  the  spirit  world  than  when  they  lived.  They  also 
believe  they  are  able  to  use  this  power  so  as  to  bring 
everything  that  may  be  desired  to  those  who  serve  them; 
or  they  may  choose  to  bring  calamity  upon  those  with 
whom  they  are  displeased. 

Many  of  the  people  are  very  poor.  They  must  bear 
the  heavy  taxes  of  unjust  rulers  and  the  high  rents  of 
greedy  landlords.  One  who  sees  their  need  cannot  won- 
der that  they  should  turn  to  worship  almost  anything 
they  think  can  help   them   out  of   their  pitiful  poverty. 

But  there  is  another  side  to  ancestor  worship.  Spirits 
that  are  not  served  and  feasted  by  their  children  are 
thought  to  become  evil,  vicious,  spiteful,  and  revengeful 
toward  those  who  neglect  them,  in  that  darker,  less 
happy  land  of  spirits.  The  living  are  in  danger  from 
the  revenge  of  evil  spirits.  Therefore  the  spirits  of  the 
dead  are  served  with  tokens  of  love  and  devotion  quite 
as  much  from  fear  of  the  evil  they  may  do  to  the 
living  as  for  any  honor  or  service  of  love  the  living 
may  desire  to  show  to  their  dead   ancestors. 


280  J'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

The  Chinese  believe  man  has  three  souls:  at  death 
one  spirit  goes  to  the  dark  world;  a  second  hovers 
over  his  grave;  the  third  takes  up  its  abode  in  the 
ancestral  tablet,  w^hich  is  a  piece  of  vrood  prepared  to 
receive  it. 

If  he  is  an  ordinary  person,  this  token  will  be  placed 
at  the  side  of  the  altar  or  before  it,  in  his  family  home. 
If  he  is  an  important  person  or  the  leader  of  his  clan, 
the  tablet  will  be  set  among  those  of  the  honorable  of 
his  ancestors  in  a  building  erected  for  this  purpose. 
Such  a  building  is  called  an  Ancestral  Hall.  Wealthy 
and  influential  families  take  great  pride  in  their  ances- 
tral halls.  Visitors  are  shown  through  these  places  as 
a   mark   of   respect. 

The  tablet  is  spoken  of  by  the  name  of  the  person 

whose  spirit  it  represents,  as,  "  This  is .     He  is  my 

father's  great-grandfather."  He  is  praised  for  his  vir- 
tues, or  whatever  may  have  entitled  him  to  a  place  in 
the  family  roll  of  honor. 

The  spirit  which  goes  to  the  dark  world  is  supposed 
to  find  there  much  the  same  conditions  he  left  here. 
He  needs  there  much  the  same  things  he  required  in 
this  life.  But  in  the  spirit-world  he  is  dependent  upon 
friends  to  provide  these  things  for .  him.  No  matter 
how  powerful  he  may  be  to  help  others,  he  cannot  se- 
cure for  himself  the  things  he  requires.  If  he  were 
poor  here,  he  may  not  become  rich  there.  If  he  were 
lame  or  blind  here,  he  must  bear  that  infirmity  there. 
Was  he  a  bad  man  on  earth,  and  beheaded  for  his 
crime?  Then  he  must  wander  headless  in  the  spirit 
world.  His  heart  may  long  to  speak  a  word,  to  hear 
the  sound  of  a  human  voice.  This  he  may  not  do, 
for  he  has   lost  his  head. 


As  soon  as  the  old  witch  at  the  right  finishes  her  mum- 
mery, the  house  will  be  burned,  and  so  pass  on  for  the 
use  of  the  person  who  has  died. 


Pouring  oil  around  the  paper  house  so  it  will  burn  well. 

PAPER  HOUSE  FOR  THE  DEAD 


281 


282  J'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

To  provide  for  the  personal  needs  of  the  spirit,  houses, 
furniture,  sedan  chairs,  boats,  clothing,  or  whatever  may 
be  required,  are  made  of  bamboo  and  paper.  These 
are  burned,  and  in  this  way  are  supposed  to  be  sent 
with  the  spirit  to  the  dark  world. 

Sometimes  real  garments  are  offered  instead  of  sham 
paper  clothes.  On  one  occasion  the  widow  of  a  mer- 
chant brought  out  to  a  shrine  under  a  spreading  ban- 
yan tree  all  the  good  clothes  her  husband  left  at  his 
death.  A  pile  of  rich  silk  brocade  garments  and  clothing 
of  other  materials  were  all  sent  up  in  its  sacrificial 
flame  to  the  husband  in  the  spirit  world.  A  quantity 
of  gilded  red  paper  was  also  burned  to  be  used  as  money 
in  the  land  of  darkness. 

The  spirit  which  resides  at  the  grave  is  worshiped 
once  a  year  in  the  Feast  of  Tombs.  This  feast  occurs 
in  early  spring,  corresponding  somewhat  to  our  Easter, 
and  is  one  of  the  most  important  events  of  the  Chinese 
year.  All  the  men,  women,  and  children  able  to  walk 
the  distance,  turn  out  to  visit  the  graves  of  their  dead. 

While  the  men  and  boys  repair  and  decorate  the 
graves,  the  women  and  girls  spread  a  feast  for  the  spirit 
upon  the  stone  slab  before  it.  When  everything  is  ready, 
the  father  stands  before  the  grave  and  speaks  to  the 
spirit.  He  says,  "  Your  children  have  brought  you  a 
gift  of  food."  He  apologizes  that  the  feast  is  not 
richer,  and  explains  that  because  they  are  so  very  poor 
this  is  the  best  they  can  possibly  afford.  He  begs  that 
it  shall  not  be  refused. 

While  the  spirit  is  supposed  to  be  enjoying  the  feast, 
the  father  goes  on  to  tell  all  his  troubles.  He  relates 
how  sickness,  failure  of  crops,  and  other  misfortunes 
have  come  to  his  family  in  the  year  since  they  last  vis- 


The   Worship   of  Ancestors  283 

ited  this  tomb.  He  begs  the  spirit,  or  ancestor,  to  use 
its  great  power  to  bless  them  with  good  gifts,  prosperity, 
and  wealth. 

By  the  time  this  ceremony  is  over  the  spirit  is  sup- 
posed to  have  feasted  and  been  satisfied.  Then  the 
family  sits  down  in  the  warm  sunshine  flooding  the 
mounds,  and  themselves  join  in  the  feast.  What  is  left 
belongs  to  them.  The  country  air  has  given  them  splen- 
did appetites,  and  from  the  way  the  boys  and  girls  eat 
one  would  judge  the  fruits,  cakes,  and  cold  roast  meats 
have  lost  none  of  their  flavor  in  the  spirit's  feast.  After 
the  feast  they  tell  stories,  play  games,  and  have  a  gen- 
eral good  time.  As  the  sun  settles  down  in  the  west, 
the  crowds  scatter.  The  worshipers  go  back  to  their 
homes  in  family  groups  as  they  came. 

The  third  spirit,  which  is  believed  to  reside  in  the 
tablet  at  home,  is  also  worshiped  at  set  times,  and  must 
not  be  neglected. 

A  missionary  who  rented  the  house  of  a  Chinese  fam- 
ily, was  obliged  to  sign  a  contract  to  reserve  for  the 
old  ancestral  tablets  the  room  where  they  were  kept. 
The  contract  also  provided  that  the  son  should  have 
the  privilege  of  coming  to  the  house  in  person  for  the 
purpose  of  paying  homage  to  his  parents.  The  son  had 
become  wealthy,  and  had  built  for  himself  a  fine  new 
house,  where  he  now  lived.  The  fact  that  he  had  pros- 
pered led  him  to  believe  that  his  ancestors  had  blessed 
him  because  they  were  satisfied  with  the  resting  place  of 
their  spirits.  Nothing  could  induce  him  to  remove  their 
tablets  from  his  father's  house.  The  few  dollars'  rent, 
or  even  thousands  of  dollars,  would  have  been  as  noth- 
ing to  the  rich  young  man,  in  comparison  with  the 
favor  of  his  dead   ancestors. 


284  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

But  what  about  those  spirits  whose  families  have  died 
out,  who  are  without  living  descendants  to  carry  on  the 
ancestral  worship?  The  Chinese  have  been  keen  enough 
to  provide  against  danger  from  this  source.  A  special 
time  of  feasting  has  been  arranged  for  these  beggar 
spirits.  The  god  set  to  guard  these  spirits  confined  in 
the  dark  world,  is  supposed  to  let  them  out  to  roam 
over  the  earth  in  the  Chinese  moon,  corresponding  to 
our  month  of  August.  At  this  time  the  whole  nation 
unites  in  providing  a  feast   for   desolate  souls. 

Feasts  of  all  the  good  things  Chinese  love  to  offer 
their  own  dead  are  spread  out  in  the  open  for  the  wan- 
derers. Money  is  also  provided,  and  though  boys  and 
girls  scramble  after  it  and  with  nimble  fingers  gather 
up  the  last  copper  thrown  out  for  the  spirits,  yet  it  is 
imagined  that  in  some  mysterious  way  the  spirits  have 
absorbed  its  value  for  their  own  use.  Thus  the  beg- 
gar spirits  are  feasted  and  made  satisfied  to  return  to 
their  appointed  place.  People  feast  them  for  fear  of 
the  calamities  they  may  inflict.  Men  do  not  love  them, 
only  fear  their  power  to  do  harm. 

Ancestor  worship  in  all  its  forms  is  a  barrier  against 
the  gospel  of  Christ,  because  it  puts  men  —  dead  men 
—  in  the  place  God  has  reserved  for  himself ;  as  it 
is  written,  "Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God, 
and  him  only  shalt  thou  serve." 


THE  FUNG-SHUl 

A   MYSTERY    OF    THE    MIDDLE    KINGDOM 

MEN  of  the  Middle  Kingdom  have  never  learned 
to  worship  God  as  the  creator  of  all  things. 
Because  of  this  they  have  shown  little  interest  in  his 
works.  They  have  taken  this  world  as  it  is,  seeming 
to  care  little  to  understand  the  laws  God  has  set  to 
rule  it.  In  this  way  their  minds  have  been  left  open 
to  foolish  and  vain  thoughts  about  the  things  of  nature. 

Their  imagination  has  pictured  this  world  as  peopled 
with  invisible  forms  —  fairies,  goblins,  ghosts  of  dead 
men,  and  all  sorts  of  spirits.  But  beyond  these  there 
Is  another,  deeper  mystery  going  through  the  air  and 
filling  the  earth.  In  fact,  it  is  at  work  everywhere,  in 
earth,  sea,  and  sky. 

This  mysterious  power,  or  influence,  is  called  "  fung- 
shui."  No  one  tries  to  explain  what  fung-shui  is.  In- 
deed, the  Chinese  appear  to  choose  rather  to  think  of  it 
as  a  mystery.  Everything  they  do  not  understand  is 
likely  to  be  attributed  to  the  antics  of  fung-shui. 

The  name  consists  of  two  words,  —  fung,  meaning 
"  wind ;  "  and  shuij  meaning  "  water."  But  the  power 
of  fung-shui  Is  by  no  means  confined  to  wind  and 
water.      It   races   through   everything   in   nature. 

According  to  Chinese  belief,  fung-shui  works  through 
spirits  to  give  them  power  over  the  affairs  of  the  living. 
This  Is  what  they  call  "  luck."  When  bad  luck  comes 
to  a  Chinese,  he  lays  it  to  a  bad  fung-shui.  If  his  pigs 
die  of  cholera,  fung-shui  is  at  fault.  If  his  grain  does  not 
fill  out  in  the  ear,  It  is  charged  to  this  mysterious  influ- 
ence. Fung-shui  unites  with  peaceable,  kindly  spirits  to 
shower  luck  upon  their  favorites. 

285 


286 


A'Chii  and   Other  Stories 


VIEW    OF    A    STREET    IN    NANKING 

The  traveler  climbs  to  the  top  of  a  hill,  thinking  he 
may  get  a  better  view  of  a  Chinese  city.  He  is  disap- 
pointed. There  is  no  variety  of  sights,  nothing  to  be 
seen  but  an  even  level  of  roofs.  Dwellings,  places  of 
business  or  amusement,  temples,  or  what  not,  every 
building,  excepting  perhaps  the  pawnshop,  is  of  the  same 
one-story  height,  or  at  most  a  second  low  half  story  is 
added.  Everywhere  he  finds  the  houses  of  this  same 
low  height,  and  with  roofs  much  alike  in  design  and 
color. 


The  Fung-Shut 


287 


"  Perhaps,"  he  thinks,  "  the  inhabitants  are  afraid  the 
taller  buildings  would  be  blown  down  by  typhoons  or 
shaken  by  earthquakes." 

He  has  guessed  wrongly.  They  fear,  rather,  that  a 
building  of  more  than  usual  height  will  disturb  the 
fung-shui.  The  winds  blowing  upon  it  from  all  quar- 
ters would  gather  spirits  to  the  spot.  This  would  bring 
disaster.  The  neighbors  would  never  allow  such  a 
house  to  be  built  if  they  could  help  it,  and  probably 
would   destroy  the   structure   if   completed   against   their 


r^^^Ku^Ktft^^^^^^SS^^^^ 


NATIVE   STYLE   OF   ARCHITECTURE 

wishes.  A  chimney  reared  on  an  unlucky  part  of  the 
roof,  or  a  window  in  the  wrong  place,  might  stop  the 
neighbor's  hens  from  laying,  or  prevent  the  eggs  from 
hatching.  Some  such  calamity  would  be  sure  to  follow 
any  disturbance  of   fung-shui. 

Every  town  and  city  has  its  object  for  controlling 
fung-shui.  This  object  may  be  a  mound  of  earth  shaped 
like  a  turtle  or  a  serpent.  Better  still,  it  may  be  a  hill 
resembling  in  form  some  more  powerful  animal,  as  a 
lion  or  an  ox.  It  may  be  only  the  form  of  the  hill 
or  the  course  of  a  stream  that  is  the  omen  of  good  luck 
to  its  neighborhood.  Such  an  object  is  supposed  to 
gather  up  the  harmful   influences,   and   turn  them   into 


288  J'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

blessings.  Consequently  it  is  regarded  as  sacred  by  the 
people.  One  who  should  disfigure  its  surface,  either 
intentionally  or  by  accident,  would  be  punished  severely. 
Where  no  such  natural  object  of  protection  exists, 
something  is  built  to  take  its  place.  Many  of  the  tall 
pagodas,  which  add  to  the  quaint  and  picturesque  beauty 
of  Chinese  landscape,  have  been  erected  for  this  purpose. 

LUCKY   GROUND 

Because  fung-shui  is  supposed  to  work  in  connection 
with  spirits,  the  Chinese  think  the  location  of  their  bur- 
ial places  is  a  very  important  matter.  A  wealthy  family 
will  pay  a  large  sum  for  a  plot  of  ground  where  the 
fung-shui  is  said  to  be  powerful.  The  natural  advan- 
tage of  its  burial  place  will  combine  with  the  spirit  to 
work  for  the  prosperity  of  its  living  friends. 

There  is  a  class  of  men  who  make  a  business  of  hunt- 
ing the  country  over  to  find  such  spots,  or  what  are 
called  "  lucky  ground."  They  often  become  rich  at  the 
business.  The  poor  are  obliged  to  bury  their  dead  wher- 
ever they  can  secure  a  spot  within  their  means,  but  the 
wealthy  pay  any  price  that  may  be  asked  for  a  grave 
in  lucky  ground. 

The  visitor  to  Canton  will  be  shown  by  his  guide 
through  the  City  of  the  Dead,  which  lies  in  the  sub- 
urbs. Here  are  rows  of  what  look  like  small  houses. 
They  are  open;  and  as  his  guide  leads  the  way,  he 
enters  to  find  not  a  living  soul  within.  The  first  room 
contains  an  altar  with  the  customary  spirit-tablets.  Be- 
sides, there  may  be  a  seat  or  two  where  those  who 
come  to  pay  devotion  may  sit  and  rest. 

The  visitor  is  invited  to  enter  the  second  room.  This 
he  finds  occupied  by  one  or  more,  or  even  several  large, 


The  Fu7ig-Shui  289 

heavy  burial  caskets  tightly  sealed.  Here  lie  the  only 
inhabitants  of  the  City  of  the  Dead.  For  these  the 
city  was  built.  For  these  it  is  guarded  night  and  day, 
its  streets  are  kept  in  perfect  order,  and  its  flowers  are 
everblooming.  Within  its  gates  the  afr  is  heavy  with 
the  odor  of  perpetually  burning  incense. 

What  does  all  this  mean?     Will  those  thousands  of 
dead   wait   in   this   quiet   place   till   the   great   judgment 


tombs  for  temporary  i.ntkrment  while  watting  for 
"lucky  ground" 

day?  "  No,"  the  guide  explains  with  utmost  candor, 
"  they  wait  here  in  the  City  of  the  Dead  only  till 
friends  shall  secure  a  spot  of  lucky  ground  for  their 
final   burial." 

In  the  neighborhood  of  villages  and  out  in  the 
country,  coffins  may  be  seen  resting  under  temporary 
cover  on  the  hillside,  or  without  cover  and  perhaps 
near  the  family  home.  These  also  await  a  lucky 
day  and  a  lucky  spot  to  be  laid  to  rest  in  a  place 
where  the  fung-shui  is  powerful. 
19 


290  AXhu  and  Other  Stories 

HIGH  VALUE  OF  " LUCKY  GROUND  " 

An  incident  that  occurred  in  the  experience  of  our 
own  missionaries  at  Swatow  may  serve  to  illustrate  the 
importance  the  Chinese  attach  to  the  power  of  fung- 
shui.  When  our  mission  work  had  become  established 
in  that  region,  it  was  decided  to  build  two  houses  for 
the  missionaries,  a  girls'  school,  a  school  for  boys,  and 
a  dispensary   or  small  hospital. 

Upon  careful  search  a  very  desirable  location  was 
found  on  a  small  island  in  Han  River.  This  island 
lies  at  a  point  where  the  stream,  having  passed  the 
hills,  widens  out  in  its  course  through  the  narrow  coast 
plain,  and  not  far  inland  from  where  the  Han  empties 
its  waters  into  the  great  Pacific  Ocean. 

The  larger  part  of  this  island  was  owned  by  an 
aged  widow  named  Lee,  together  with  her  seven  sons. 
The  eldest  son  was  himself  some  sixty  years  old.  The 
Lee  family  agreed  to  sell  this  possession,  reserving  only 
a  small  plot  on  which  a  family  tomb  had  been  erected. 
As  no  body  yet  had  been  laid  in  this  sepulcher,  the 
ground  had  not  become  sacred,  and  the  tomb  could  easily 
have   been   moved. 

A  price  for  two  acres  was  agreed  upon.  The  mis- 
sionaries had  sufficient  money  to  buy  only  one  acre. 
This  amount  they  paid  down,  and  received  a  deed  for 
one  acre  of  land,  signed  by  all  eight  members  of  the 
family.  They  felt  satisfied  that  part  of  the  bargain 
was  now  quite  secure.  The  Lees  promised  to  give 
them  time  on  the  other  half  of  the  land,  and  so  the 
missionaries  eagerly  awaited  money  from  America  with 
which  to  pay  for  the  second  acre. 

The  time  for  which  the  owners  had  agreed  to  wait 
had  nearly  expired.     The  missionaries,  thinking  it  would 


The  Fung-Shui  291 

be  a  pity  to  lose  their  chance  on  this  healthful  loca- 
tion for  their  mission  homes,  went  to  talk  with  the 
Lee  family,  and  if  possible  to  persuade  them  to  extend 
the  time  a  little  longer.  How  disappointed  they  were 
to  hear  that  the  owners  now  refused  to  sell  this  land 
at  any  price!  Usually  when  a  Chinese  makes  a  bar- 
gain, he  can  be  depended  upon  to  fulfil  it.     But  these 


A   CHINESE   DEED 

Each  time  property  is  sold,  the  new  deed  is  pasted  to 
the  former  one,  in  this  case  making  "  a  stair  carpet." 

men  obstinately  refused.  More  than  this,  they  abso- 
lutely denied  having  sold  the  acre  for  which  they  had 
already  received  their  price.  Workmen  sent  by  the 
missionaries  to  prepare  the  site  for  buildings  were  driven 
off  and  their  cargo  boats  seized. 

Swatow  district  was  in  a  state  of  revolution  at  the 
time.  There  was  no  court  of  law,  no  magistrate  of 
justice    to    compel    this    rich    and    influential    family    to 


292  A'Chu  (uid   Other  Stories 

fulfil  their  bargain.  After  a  great  deal  of  polite  talk 
and  some  haggling  over  the  amount  due,  the  Lees 
finally  paid  back  the  money  they  had  received  from  the 
missionaries. 

"  Now  what  do  you  suppose  was  the  cause  of  all  this 
fussing? "  said  the  missionary  telling  the  story.  "  It 
was  simply  this:  After  the  Lee  family  had  sold  us  the 
land,  they  got  the  idea  of  building  an  ancestral  hall 
where  the  tomb  then  stood,  just  back  of  the  land  sold 
to  us  along  the  water's  edge.  They  called  a  diviner,  or 
more  properly,  a  geomancer,  who  informed  them  that 
this  whole  island  was  a  natural  fung-shui.  To  prove 
his  point,  he  drew  a  chart  of  the  country  showing  the 
noble  hills  about  Swatow  Valley  in  the  attitude  of 
doing  obeisance  to  the  little  island,  much  as  Joseph 
dreamed  the  sheaves  of  his  eleven  brothers  bowed  be- 
fore  his  own   sheaf. 

"  The  fung-shui  professor  marked  his  chart  with  char- 
acters of  big  meaning.  He  told  the  Lee  family  they 
should  build  an  ancestral  hall  in  the  grove  of  green 
trees  where  the  tomb  stood.  To  do  this  and  place  in 
it  the  tablets  of  their  family,  would  bring  great  good 
fortune  to  their  clan.  But,  he  warned  them,  the  mis- 
sion must  not  be  allowed  to  keep  the  land  purchased. 
Their  tall  buildings,  erected  between  the  tomb  and  the 
bowing  hills,  would  destroy  the  fung-shui. 

"  When  we  heard  this,  we  knew  it  was  useless  to 
think  of  trying  to  keep  the  land.  They  would  give 
us  no  end  of  trouble.  So  we  took  back  the  money, 
and  built  our  houses  elsewhere." 

THE  MYSTERY   AN   EVIL 

Belief  in  fung-shui  is  not  merely  a  foolish  notion  of 
the  Chinese,  to  them  it  is  a  real  mystery  of  evil,  and  is 


The  Fung-Shui  293 

at  fault  for  the  present  backward  condition  of  civiliza- 
tion in  the  boasted  Middle  Kingdom.  It  is  the  tap- 
root of  a  great  tree  of  superstition.  The  bitter  pov- 
erty that  makes  life  a  miserable  existence  to  the  great 
mass  of  the   Chinese  people,   is   its   leaves  and   fruit. 

China  is  the  oldest  nation  with  a  continuous  history 
upon  the  earth  today.  Her  sailing  junks  carried  woven 
silks  to  the  south   of   Europe  while  Greece   and   Rome 


"    '  -r' 

--'•-'      -    "-'  '^    '   •■'■ 

,.,,,^ 

.                  :  '--^S-^t 

W^W    ^ 

fe  .' ' -'^'^,^m 

^     f^ 

<ii^^*^ 

-  }--  '^\\. 

m 

k 

fei^-r---  fi 

iU 

L 

m 

^SIHUhf-x 

y       1 

™^^^^^^^..  ,i »-.-.-. 

While  they  trailed  their  fishing  lines,  there  were  fortunes 
in  the  hills. 

were  ruling  kingdoms.  Her  people  were  thrifty  farm- 
ers, prosperous  merchants  and  manufacturers,  while  the 
British  Isles  were  yet  barbarous.  Her  business  was 
carried  on  by  the  aid  of  banks  while  Europeans  still 
swapped  goods  and  the  Americans  traded  with  wampum. 
After  forty  centuries  of  farming,  the  soil  of  China 
has  not  grown  old.  The  forests  abound  in  excellent 
timber,    and    the    earth    is    stored    with    rich    mines    of 


294  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

coal  and  metals.  With  a  population  of  400,000,000 
in  a  country  the  size  of  that  part  of  the  United  States 
east  of  the  Mississippi  River,  there  can  be  no  lack 
of  workers  for  mines  at  low  wages.  The  country  of 
China  is  very  rich,  but  the  fung-shui  keeps  her  people 
very  poor. 

On  a  trip  up  West  River  the  captain  of  our  steamer 
called  attention  to  the  greenish  tint  of  the  rocks  on 
the  mountains  at  one  side  of  the  narrow  river  gorge. 

"  It  looks  as  if  there  is  copper  up  there,"  remarked 
a  passenger. 

"  Copper !  Why,  those  hills  are  full  of  copper," 
returned  the  captain  with  some  exaggeration.  "  I  have 
run  this  river  twenty  years  waiting  my  chance  at  it. 
I'll  wait  twenty  years  more  if  I  have  to,"  he  added  with 
real  Scotch  determination.  "  There's  no  better  chance 
in  the  world  to  get  rich  than  up  in  those  hills.  See  that 
hole?"  he  pointed  eagerly.  "That's  where  a  for- 
tune is  waiting  for  me.     I   own  shares  in  that  hole." 

Then  the  captain  told  the  story  of  that  brown  hole 
among  the  green-tinged  rocks.  Some  years  ago  a  min- 
ing company  had  been  formed  with  permission  from 
the  Chinese  government  to  open  a  mine  in  this  place. 
Valuable  machinery  was  brought  from  across  the  ocean, 
and  work  began.  Almost  immediately  complaint  was 
made  by  the  local  officials  to  the  government  at  Peking. 
The  digging  had  disturbed  fung-shui,  they  complained, 
and  the  awakened  spirits  were  bringing  disaster  upon 
their  farms  and  villages. 

Word  was  returned  from  Peking  without  delay,  or- 
dering the  digging  to  cease.  The  workmen  were  com- 
pelled to  quit  the  place  at  once,  leaving  their  machinery 
where  it  had  been  set. 


The  Fung-Shut  295 

We  looked  to  see  where  were  the  villages  in  that 
wild  region  that  might  have  been  in  danger  from  this 
disturbance.  There  were  none  in  sight.  For  hours 
we  had  passed  no  villages,  only  here  and  there  a  hut 
by  the  water's  edge,  with  a  speck  of  wilted  garden 
scratched  into  the  brown  soil  at  its  rear.  While 
these  half-starved  "  squatters  "  trailed  their  fishing  lines, 
there  were  fortunes  in  the  rough  mineral  nuggets  lying 
on  the  surface  of  the  overhanging  hills.  This  is  a  fair 
illustration  of  what  has  taken  place  in  China  whenever 
an  attempt  at  mining  has  been  made. 

China  has  but  few  railroads  and  telegraphs,  and  here 
again  fung-shui  is  to  be  blamed.  The  digging  of  road- 
beds and  the  blasting  of  cuts  and  tunnels  alarm  the 
country  people.  They  are  distressed  by  fear  of  what 
may  happen  should  the  fiery-eyed  locomotive  be  allowed 
to  go  snorting  past  the  peaceful  tombs  of  their  ances- 
tors. The  Chinese  imagine  that  terrible  calamities  would 
follow  the  tall  telegraph  poles  and  the  long  trail  of 
wires. 

Such  is  the  power  of  this  mystery  of  the  Middle 
Kingdom  against  which  the  new  government  of  China 
has  set  itself  to  encourage  modern  improvements.  As 
more  railroads  are  built,  and  no  bad  luck  but  better 
prices  for  their  crops  follow,  men  lose  faith  in  their  old 
whims.  As  more  schools  are  opened  and  more  people 
learn  to  read,  more  Bibles  can  be  put  into  the  poor  homes 
of  China.  The  love  of  God  will  conquer  this  evil 
mystery,  as  it  conquers  all  other  evils. 


TT 


:nn: 


IL 


A  FEAST-DAY   SCENE 

Seller  of  sugar  cane  in 
foreground 


a 


:n: 


HE 


296 


Real  Troubles  from  Wrong 
Imaginations 


CHIJSESE    MOTHER   AND    CHILD 


//  the  Spirits  themselves  are  only  imaginary, 
the  troubles  they  cause  the  Chinese  as  the  result 
of  belief  in  them  are  certainly  very  real.  Indeed, 
belief  in  spirits  is  the  great  source  of  much  that 
to  us  seems  heartless  and  cruel  in  the  conduct  of 
the  Chinese,  The  following  incidents  are  related 
to  show   the  effect   of  this  belief  in   spirits. 


WHERE   WAS   THE   PEARL? 

LITTLE  Pearl  was  nowhere  to  be  seen  one  morning 
when  I  called  at  a  certain  home.  My  friend  was 
very  proud  of  her  little  daughter.  Usually  she  was 
brought  in  to  say  over  the  English  words  she  had 
learned,  and  to  go  through  all  her  cute  pranks.  At 
such  times  she  was  dressed  in  fine  silk  clothes,  decked 
with  bracelets  on  her  arms  and  ankles,  and  other  orna- 
ments, some  being  charms  and  amulets  of  bright-yellow 
gold   and   green   jade   stone. 

"Where  is  Pearl  this  morning?"   I   inquired. 

"  Pearl  is  not  here,"  replied  the  mother,  with  em- 
phasis on  the  child's  name. 

The  woman  was  not  inclined  to  talk,  and  very  soon 
left  the  room.  Through  the  open  archway  I  saw  her 
snuffing  the  lighted  incense  that  hung  in  a  spiral  column 
suspended  from  the  ceiling  to  just  above  the  table  before 
the  altar  and  spread  its  odor  through  all  the  house. 
She  did  not  return  to  the  living-room  where  she  had 
seated  me,  but  busied  herself  with  placing  upon  the  altar 
fresh  offerings  of  fruits,  tea  and  cakes,  meats  and  dain- 
ties. All  the  time  her  lips  kept  moving  and  sometimes 
her  voice  was  heard  pleading  to  the  dumb  idol  in  the 
gilded  shrine. 

"  No,  Pearl  is  not  here.  Only  A'Hut  [meaning  "  the 
beggar  "]  is  here  this  morning,"  explained  the  husband 
with  a  movement  of  his  hand  toward  the  corner  where 
a  child  sat  in  a  crumpled  heap  on  a  low  stool. 

It  was  little  Pearl.  No  mistake!  The  household  pet, 
the  only  child  left  alive  to  the  sad  mother  of  seven  chil- 
dren, sat  in  the  corner  alone.  A  torn  and  soiled  cap 
covered   her   glossy   black  hair.      Her   delicate   chin  just 

299 


300  A'Chu  a7id  Other  Stories 

peeped  above  the  bundle  of  old  clothes  that  muffled  her 
slender  body.  The  big  dark  eyes  looked  out  beseech- 
ingly from  the  shadow.  They  were  the  eyes  of  little 
Pearl,  though  all  the  laughter  and  play  had  died  out 
of  them. 

"  Beggar !  "  called  the  man  boisterously.  At  sight  of 
her  flushed  face  his  voice  softened  in  spite  of  his  will. 
"  Beggar,"  he  repeated  very  tenderly,  "  you  feel  bad, 
don't  you  ?  " 

"  She  is  very  hot  with  fever,"  he  said,  turning  to  me 
and  mumbling  low.  "  This  is  the  way  Chinese  women 
do,"  he  explained,  though  it  seemed  very  plain  he  was 
making  no  objection  to  the  mother's  way  of  treating 
the  sick  child. 

Why  should  a  child  be  treated  so  cruelly,  you  ask? 
In  your  home  she  would  have  been  dressed  in  a  clean, 
comfortable  garment,  and  put  to  rest  quietly  in  bed, 
while  mother  gave  her  cooling  drinks  and  constant  care 
till  the  fever  was  gone.  This  is  the  way  sick  children 
are  treated  in  Christian  homes. 

But  little  Pearl's  father  and  mother  were  not  Chris- 
tians. Their  hearts  were  filled  with  a  dreadful  super- 
stitious fear,  stronger  than  the  parent-love  for  their 
child.  They  thought  the  child  was  sick,  not  because 
she  had  eaten  too  much  preserves  and  sweetmeats  or 
roast  pork  or  salt  fish,  but  because  an  evil  spirit  was 
tormenting  her  body.  Evil  spirits  would  delight  to 
torment  to  death  a  child  loved  by  its  parents  and  wanted 
in  the  home,  but  would  not  trouble  themselves  the  least 
about  an  uncared-for,  beggar  child.  So,  to  deceive  the 
spirits,  her  mother  had  taken  off  the  good  clothes  and 
dressed  her  like  a  beggar. 


Where   IV as  the  Pearl f  301 

So  they  set  her  in  a  corner.  No  one  in  all  the  house 
speaks  of  the  "  precious  gem,"  as  they  called  her  when 
she  was  well.  Everybody  puts  on  a  make-believe  way. 
They  say,  "Where  did  this  beggar  come  from?  Why 
is  she  here  in  this  house?"  just  as  if  they  did  not  own 
her  at  all,  or  even  know  who  she  was.     If  one  should 


A    LITTLE   BURDEN    BEARER 


wish  to  speak  a  word  of  pity,  it  must  be  done  so  slyly 
the  spirits  will  not  notice  it. 

As  her  part  in  the  game  of  deceiving  the  evil  ones, 
little  Pearl  must  sit  in  the  corner  bundled  up  to  the  chin 
in  old  clothes,  with  a  cap  on  her  hot  forehead,  while 
her  little  body  is  burning  with  fever  and  her  head  swims 
with  the  dizzying  pain. 

The  mother  suffers,  too,  for  all  night  long  she  has 
not  slept  one  little  wink.     She  has  been  going  back  and 


302 


A*Chu  and  Other  Stories 


forth  preparing  dainties  to  feast  the  gods.  She  has 
bowed  for  hours  at  a  time  on  the  cold  tile  floor  before 
the  idol,  begging  it  to  spare  and  protect  her  child.  She 
has  burned,  for  an  offering  to  the  spirits,  red  paper  cut 
into  small  pieces  and  covered  with  gilt  to  look  like 
money.  She  has  thrown  out  into  the  street  handfuls 
of  copper  cash  pieces,  hoping  the  spirits  will  be  at- 
tracted by  the  rattle  of  the  money  on  the  stones.  Maybe, 
she  thinks,  they  will  be  satisfied  with  the  money,  and 
take  themselves  off  to  have  a  good  time  spending  it. 

If  in  the  morning  her  child  is  better,  she  will  believe 
the  idol  heard  her  prayer.  Then  the  ugly  image  will 
get  another  feast  and  plenty  of  thanks. 

Thousands  of  children  with  their  mothers,  and  old 
people  too,  are  suffering  this  way  in  China,  because  they 
do  not  know  the  loving  Saviour  who  forgives  all  our 
iniquities  and  heals  all  our  diseases. 


FLOUB    MILL  AND  BICE  FIELDS 


THE   HAUNTED   HOUSE 

A  MORE  suitable  place  was  needed  for  our  boys' 
school  in  Amoy.  It  was  hoped  that  the  house 
might  be  a  large  one,  with  space  for  chapel  and  study- 
room,  and  smaller  rooms  for  recitations.  There  must 
also  be  quarters  for  our  boarding  pupils  to  live  in,  as 
well  as  a  home  for  the  missionary,  a  young  man  who 
would  act  as  preceptor  and  have  charge  of  the  school. 

Many  days  had  been  spent  in  the  search,  when  a 
house  was  discovered  that  in  every  way  was  well  suited 
to  the  purpose.  The  rent  asked  was  surprisingly  low. 
The  house  had  been  empty  a  long  time,  the  agent  said, 
and  the  owner  had  concluded  to  reduce  the  price.  That 
was  singular.  Usually  we  found  landlords  quick  to 
raise   the  price   when   a   foreign   tenant   applied   for   it. 

The  students  were  wiser  in  Chinese  mysteries  than 
we.  They  suspected  there  was  a  reason  why  the  house 
had  been  so  long  unoccupied.  A  careful  examination  of 
the  premises  was  made.  Everything  appeared  to  be  in 
excellent  condition.  Indeed,  judging  from  the  condition 
of  the  woodwork  and  decoration  of  the  walls,  the  house 
was  not  an  old  one,  and  probably  had  not  been  used 
for  any  length  of  time. 

The  furniture,  of  the  sort  usually  rented  with  Chinese 
dwellings,  was  in  disorder,  as  if  the  last  moving-out  had 
been  a  rather  sudden  flight.  The  rooms  were  littered 
with  rubbish  buried  beneath  dust  and  covered  with  cob- 
webs. However,  we  thought  this  but  natural  in  a  house 
vacant  for  years.  It  was  the  agent's  refusal  to  have 
the  place  "  cleaned  up  "  that  was  most  surprising.  No 
allowance  for  labor  that  was  offered  tempted  him  to 
promise   he   would    put   the   house   in    readiness. 

303 


The  Haunted  House  305 

This  excited  the  suspicion  of  the  young  men  of  the 
school,  and  led  them  to  inquire  among  the  neighbors  as 
to  the  reputation  of  the  place.  The  neighbors  said  it 
was  a  dangerous  place,  inhabited  by  demons.  They 
meant  it  was  what  our  forefathers  would  have  called 
a  "  haunted  "  house.  "  The  wealthy  man  who  built 
this  home  lost  his  wife  there,  and  his  children,  too. 
Every  family  that  has  lived  there  since  that  time  has 
suffered.  Lots  of  folks  have  died  there.  Now  people 
are  afraid  because  everybody  knows  it  is  a  spirit-house." 
Thus  spoke  the  neighbors. 

The  students  had  learned  better  things.  They  be- 
lieved in  Jesus,  and  were  no  longer  afraid  of  haunted 
houses.  Under  the  direction  of  their  preceptor,  the  older 
students  set  to  house-cleaning.  The  rubbish  was  burned, 
and  the  cobwebs  with  it.  The  woodwork  was  cleaned 
and  the  walls  whitewashed.  Upstairs  the  board  floors 
were  given  such  a  thorough  treatment  with  soap  and 
water  as  to  make  them  turn  pale.  When  the  down- 
stairs floors,  in  like  manner,  were  scoured  clean  of  sev- 
eral coats  of  drab,  they  turned  up  a  cheerful  surface  of 
terra  cotta  tiles,   each  square  outlined  in  white  cement. 

The  court,  or  open  space  between  the  two  parts  of 
the  house,  was  flooded  with  water  and  swept  to  a  finish. 
The  blue  sky  looked  down  into  the  court  approvingly. 
The  sunshine  seemed  to  say,  You  have  made  it  clean; 
I  will  keep  it  pure.  It  streamed  over  the  whitened 
walls,  and  danced  on  the  broad  leaves  of  the  green 
palms.  The  delicate  blossoms  of  flowering  plants, 
brought  from  the  gardener's,  lent  their  tints  to  brighten 
the  spot. 

The  preparations  were  completed.  Soap  and  water, 
paint  and  lime,  well  applied,  had  worked  a  wonderful 
20 


306 


A*Chu  and  Other  Stories 


change.     The  rejected  dwelling  had  become  a  fit  habi- 
tation.    School  was  announced  to  begin  at  once. 

Then  the  preceptor  was  taken  ill.  He  suffered  severe 
pain  in  the  head  and  back.  His  temperature  ran 
higher.      His    mind    wandered.      The    doctor    examined 


OUR  FIRST  HAKKA  STUDENTS 

These  are  the  boys  who  cleaned  up  the  "  haunted  "  house. 


him  carefully  —  a  tiny  red  speck  on  the  forehead  — 
another  —  two  others  —  more  on  the  chest.  Next  day 
he    knew    certainly    that    it    was    smallpox. 

Soon  afterward  the  student  who  had  assisted  in  clear- 
ing away  rubbish   from   the  lady's  chamber  was   taken 


The  Haunted  House 


307 


ill.     After  him  still  another  student  came   down  with 
smallpox. 

Now  we  knew  what  it  was  that  haunted  the  big  house. 
It  was  not  the  evil  spirits  to  which  the  Chinese  had 
charged  the  misfortunes  of  its  unhappy  dwellers.  It 
was  rather  the  minute  germs  of  a  terrible  disease,  se- 
creted in  the  dust  and  clinging  to  cobwebs,  that  had 
worked  the  mischief.  Quite  certainly,  after  the  treat- 
ment it  had  undergone,  the  house  would  be  haunted  no 
more.  The  missionary  got  well,  and  so  also  did  his 
students.  But  he  will  always  bear  some  of  the  pitted 
scars  received  in  this  encounter  with  enemies  in  a 
haunted  house. 


l^^^^^^'^Jm 

-  ■               1 

I 

Wmi                    ^»^^^W 

NATIVE   EVANGEMSTS 


THE  TROUBLE  THAT  CAME  TO  THE 
CARPENTER'S  WIFE 

YOU  may  have  heard  that  Chinese 
mothers  sometimes  throw  away  their  little 
children.  You  have  doubtless  thought 
i-j-^-v^  k  v|  them  very  cruel  and  selfish,  as  I  once 
■P^  .^^B  did,  till  I  understood  why  the  carpen- 
»i-  Mn-^^^^B  ^^^'^  wife  threw  away  her  baby. 
^■^  ^M  The  carpenter's  wife  was  a  bright- 
JPP^  1  H  faced,  smiling  woman,  who  seemed  never 
to  have  had  a  trouble  in  her  life.  The 
first  child  was  like  his  mother,  good-natured  and  cheerful. 
No  one  heard  the  carpenter's  baby  cry. 

One  day  a  servant  called  with  a  present  —  bright- 
colored  eggs,  preserved  ginger-root,  and  what  not,  in  a 
basket.  That  was  their  way  of  sending  the  good  news 
that  another  baby  boy  had  come  to  the  carpenter's  home. 

A  week  passed  before  I  had  time  to  call  on  our 
neighbor.  I  met  the  carpenter's  wife  walking  about 
the  workshop  with  the  new  baby  in  her  arms.  But 
there  was  a  worry  in  her  face  I  had  never  seen  there 
before. 

The  new  baby  was  a  fine-looking  fellow,  plump  and 
strong  as  the  average  child  of  a  month  old.  It  was 
easy  to  find  nice  things  to  say  to  the  mother  about  such 
a  boy.  She  made  no  reply  to  the  compliments  till,  as 
I  was  leaving,  she  followed  me  to  the  door. 

"  He  is  no  good,"  she  said,  "  I  will  give  him  to  you 
if  you  will  have  him." 

I   did   not   think   she   meant   it   seriously;   for    it   was 
common  pleasantry  among  the  neighbor  women  to  make 
believe  to   give  their  children  to   the  foreigner,   as  well 
303 


The  Carpenter  s  Wife's   Trouble  309 

as  a  great  bugaboo  to  frighten  the  little  folks  into  being 
good. 

**  Truly,"  she  insisted,  "  take  him ;  I  do  not  want 
him.     He  will  not  eat." 

Then  I  discovered  something  I  had  not  seen  before. 
The  carpenter's  baby  had  lockjaw.  The  untaught  coolie 
woman  who  dressed  the  newborn  baby  the  first  time 
had  used  an  ugly  black  plaster  instead  of  clean,  soft  cot- 
ton to  bind  up  the  little  body.  Baby's  blood  had  been 
poisoned.  He  would  never  open  his  mouth  again,  not 
even  to  cry.  Inside,  the  lips  were  white  and  blistered, 
and  not  a  drop  of  cool  water  could  pass  between  the 
rigid  jaws.  The  doctor  said  nothing  could  be  done  to 
help  make  him  well.  There  was  nothing  to  do  but  to 
ease  his  suffering  by  keeping  him  as  warm  and  com- 
fortable  as  possible. 

That  night,  when  the  family  and  all  the  neighbors 
were  asleep,  the  carpenter's  wife  took  off  the  warm, 
soft  clothes  we  had  given  her  baby,  wrapped  him  in 
coarse  sackcloth,  and  put  him  out  in  an  old,  deserted 
shed.  She  intended  to  leave  him  there.  But  in  the 
morning  I  sent  a  messenger  to  bring  the  child  for  a 
warm  bath. 

Poor  little  thing!  His  face  was  blotched  and  swollen 
from  mosquito  bites,  and  he  was  so  hoarse  he  could 
scarcely  moan. 

"Why  did  you  do  it?  How  could  you  treat  your 
own  little  child  so  cruelly?  "  I  chided,  not  knowing  how 
the  poor  mother  suffered  with   fear. 

"  Ah,  do  not  blame  me !  Have  I  not  another  child 
in  my  home?"  she  pleaded. 

She  thought  the  demons,  attracted  by  the  sick  child, 
might  seize  upon  the  well  one  also.     The  fear  of  danger 


310 


A*Chu  and  Other  Stories 


to  the  older  child  had  driven  her  to  cast  away  this  sick 
baby. 

"  But  why  did  you  not  bring  him  to  me?  I  would 
willingly  have  cared  for  your  sick  baby,"  I  insisted. 

"Ah,  you.  Madam?"  She  looked  surprised.  "You 
have  two  small  children  of  your  own.  How  dare  I 
bring  my  tormented  one  to  you  ?  " 

Then  I  understood.  Fear,  the  terribly  dark  fear  that 
beats  down  the  mother-love,  caused  the  carpenter's  wife 
to  throw  away  the  sick  child  in  order  that  the  well  one 
might  be  safe.  Her  generous  heart  would  not  impose 
on  another  family  the  danger  from  which  she  sought  to 
protect  her  own.  In  such  cases  as  this  the  missionary 
is  comforted  by  the  recollection  that  Jesus  came  to  this 
world  to  "  deliver  them  who  through  fear  of  death  were 
all  their  lifetime  subject  to  bondage." 


HOMES  IN  CHANGSHA 


The  Influence  of  the  Gospel 


©   U.  &  U.,  N.  Y. 

NATIVE    BIBLE    WOMAN,    CANTON 
312 


THE   SIGN  OVER  THE  DOOR 

OUT  in  the  country,  two  or  three  miles  from  San- 
li-tien,  we  came  across  a  farmhouse  having  this 
inscription  in  large  Chinese  characters  over  the  entrance, 
"  May  the  great  truth  come  to  this  door." 

It  is  quite  common  for  these  people  to  express  their 
wishes  for  the  New  Year  in  sayings  over  the  doors  of 
their  dwellings.  Such  expressions  as,  "  May  riches  enter 
here;"  "May  peace  reign  within;"  "May  the  five 
blessings  —  long  life,  riches  including  sons,  a  sound 
body,  love  of  virtue,  and  a  peaceful  end  —  enter  this 
door,"  are  not  far  to  see,  but  to  find  a  desire  for  truth 
expressed  on  the  gateway  of  a  peasant  home  was  far 
from  usual,  and  attracted  us.     We  decided  to  enter. 

This  house  was  much  like  the  other  dwellings  of  the 
plain.  The  walls  were  constructed  of  sun-dried  brick 
laid  in  mud  for  mortar  and  sheltered  by  thatches  of 
rice  straw  over  bamboo  rafters.  Inside  were  all  the 
necessities  of  a  simple  country  life,  in  spite  of  the 
absence  of  any  floor  except  the  bare  earth.  As  usual 
in  such  homes,  no  flue  had  been  provided  for  the  big 
brick  stove  where  the  two  daily  meals  were  cooked  over 
a  fire  of  twisted  straw,  dry  grass,  or  stalks.  The 
interior  walls  and  roof  were  brown  with  smoke,  but 
an  atmosphere  of  neatness  and  thrift  prevailed,  not 
always  found  in  these  homes,  while  the  blue  cotton 
garments  and  white  cloth  stockings  of  the  inmates  were 
clean  beyond  what  might  have  been  expected.  And  yet, 
if  one  may  judge  from  that  mute,  appealing  witness 
over  the  door,  temporal,  bodily  comforts  were  not  the 
chief  concern  of  the  occupants.  At  least,  these  were 
not  the  things  of  chief   importance   to   the  wife,   for  it 

313 


314 


A^Chu  and  Other  Stories 


was  she,  we  afterward  learned,  who  had  placed  upon 
the  arch  of  her  portal  at  the  dawning  of  the  New 
Year  the  sincerest  wish  of  her  heart  — "  May  the 
great  truth  come  to  this  door." 

At  our  first  visit  the  woman  related  to  my  companion 
the  experience  which  had  led  her  to  long  to  know  the 
truth.  Her  husband,  she  said,  was  a  very  good  man. 
Though  she  had  never  borne  him  a  child,  yet  he  had 
not  taken  another  wife,  nor  allowed  this  disappointment 
to  make  him  cruel  or  unkind  to  her. 
However,  being  childless,  she  felt 
she  really  had  nothing  to  live  for, 
and  often  wished  to   die. 

Sometime  during  the  late  summer 
a  single  book  of  the  Scriptures  had 
fallen  into  her  husband's  hands.  He 
carried  it  home,  and  during  his 
leisure  evenings  read  from  it  aloud, 
as  the  Chinese  love  to  read.  All 
the  time  she  sat  near.  She  kept 
the  tiny  lamp  full  of  oil.  She 
snuffed  the  pith  wick,  and  carefully  lifted  its  tip  above 
the  oil,  that  it  might  burn  its  brightest.  Very  quietly 
she  listened  while  her  husband  read  on,  and  with  true 
Chinese  propriety  said  not  a  word  when  the  reading 
ceased. 

In  this  way  she  caught  a  suggestion  of  a  new  and 
better  life,  but  how  to  follow  the  ray  that  had  shone 
into  her  heart,  baffled  her.  How,  from  where,  through 
whom,  might  this  everlasting  life  be  obtained?  She 
could  not  read,  and  though  a  kind  man,  her  husband 
did  not  think  it  worth  while  to  grant  her  earnest  request 
to  hear  all  the  book  said. 


fMM 

[■ 

1 

■^HBrI^ 

Hi 

A    COLPOETEUB 


The  Sign  Over  the  Door 


315 


Moreover,  what  she  did  hear  sounded  so  strange  to 
her  ears,  so  different  from  anything  she  had  ever  heard 
before,  that  she  could  scarcely  persuade  herself  that  she 
had  heard  aright.     Most  earnestly  she  desired  to  know 


A   SEEKER   FOB  TRUTH 


this  heavenly  doctrine  of  the  true  way,  as  she  called 
the  Scriptures,  but  there  was  no  one  to  teach  her.  With 
childlike  simplicity  she  committed  this  yearning  of  her 
heart  to  the  archway  over  her  door. 


316  A'Chu  and   Other  Stories 

No  one  who  was  present  to  see  how  eagerly  she 
pressed  to  the  missionary's  side,  gazing  rapturously 
into  her  teacher's  face,  could  for  a  moment  have  doubted 
her  sincerity.  As  she  listened  to  the  words  of  Jesus,  her 
expressive  countenance  became  radiant  with  the  light 
kindling  in  her  soul.  When  the  reading  was  finished 
and  our  missionary  gave  her  a  whole  New  Testament 
to  be  her  very  own,  she  stroked  the  book  tenderly  and 
folded  it  reverently  to  her  heart. 

Long  ago  her  husband  and  she  had  ceased  to  worship 
idols,  for  they  realized  these  were  useless,  more  helpless 
than  themselves,  ''booking  out  into  the  world  of  living, 
growing  things  about  them,  they  became  convinced  that 
there  must  be  some  Great  One  over  all,  the  source  of 
life  to  all.  Knowing  no  better  way,  they  sent  out  their 
prayers  to  earth,  sea,  and  sky.  Out  into  the  great 
universe  of  which  they  knew  so  little,  had  gone  their 
petitions,  lo,  those  many  years,  in  search  of  the  great 
God  whom  they  knew  not  at  all.  For  years  she  had 
been  feeling  after  God.  Now,  past  the  noontime  of 
her  life,  she  had  found  him,  and  for  the  first  time 
bowed  reverently  before  the  true  God,  the  Creator  of 
earth,   sea,   and  sky. 

Later  we  came  again.  At  this  second  visit  a  number 
of  women  from  the  surrounding  hamlets  and  neigh- 
boring villages  came  in,  •  attired  in  their  gayest  holiday 
clothes  and  chattering  like  a  flock  of  blackbirds.  They 
were  interested  in  our  speech,  our  clothing,  the  color 
of  our  hair,  our  complexion,  in  everything  but  our 
teaching.  The  hostess  remonstrated,  begging  them  to 
sit  down  and  listen  to  the  *'  Good  Book." 

"  Oh,  we  do  not  understand  her  words,"  they  re- 
plied. 


The  Sign   Over  the  Door  317 

"  But  if  you  really  desire  to  know,  you  may  under- 
stand," she  urged.  *'  Your  hearts  will  be  opened  to 
hear.  I  now  understand  all  that  she  speaks."  However, 
as  the  interruption  continued,  we  decided  to  go  on  to 
the  next  village.     She  understood  the  situation. 

*'  Please  stop  when  you  come  back,"  she  whispered 
to  the  missionary.  "  They  will  have  gone  to  the  dragon 
shows  or  to  the  theaters  in  the  city,  and  we  can  be 
quite  alone  then." 

Our  work  at  the  farther  village  was  completed,  and 
we  were  soon  on  the  way  home .  again.  Out  in  the 
distance,  across  the  fields,  the  woman  was  standing  by 
the  winding  path,  waiting  for  our  return. 

"  Madam,  they  have  gone,  altogether  gone!  Now 
you  will  tell  me  more  about  this  Saviour?  My  heart 
is  so  happy  when  I  hear  that  he  came  to  save  one  so 
unworthy  as  I,"  she  said  eagerly. 

As  the  wheelbarrow  carrying  our  three  children  came 
to  a  halt  before  her  door,  she  called  a  friend  with  whom 
she  had  been  sharing  her  good  news.  The  two  women 
joyously  led  us  by  the  hand  into  the  house.  We  were 
given  the  chief  seats,  and  offered  the  customary  refresh- 
ments of  knickknacks  and  tea.  Then  they  placed  their 
bamboo  stools  one  at  the  side  and  the  other  directly  in 
front  of  the  teacher,  and  were  ready  to  begin. 

When  the  reading  was  over,  we  all  bowed  together. 
Never  did  the  promise,  "  There  am  I  in  the  midst," 
seem  more  literally  fulfilled  than  as  we  knelt  on  that 
beaten  earth  floor  with  the  smoky  rafters  overhead.  The 
"  Great  Truth  "  himself  had  indeed  come  to  that  door. 


DELIVERANCE  OF  KEH  CHENG  SOAN 

AND  HIS  SON 

KEH  CHENG  SOAN,  the  father  of  Pastor  Keh 
Nga  Pit,  heard  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Saviour  of  all  men,  from  the  early  Scotch  mission- 
aries in  the  Fukien  Province  in  the  southeast  of  China. 
He  heard  the  "  blessed  voice,"  as  our  word  "  gospel " 
is  translated  into  Chinese,  believed  it,  and  openly  pro- 
fessed himself  a  follower  of  Jesus. 

At  that  time,  more  than  a  half  century  ago.  Chris- 
tian believers  were  few,  and  opposition  to  the  gospel 
was  very  bitter.  It  took  all  the  courage  of  a  heart 
brave  as  Keh  Cheng  Soan's  to  say  to  the  people  of  his 
village,  most  of  whom  were  family  relatives,  "  I  am  a 
Christian.  I  no  longer  burn  incense  to  the  idols  nor 
worship  the  ancestors.  From  this  time  I  will  worship 
only  the  God  who  made  heaven   and   earth." 

Most  certainly  the  old  men  of  the  village  looked 
upon  him  as  a  "  smart  one,"  an  upstart  indeed,  who 
dared  believe  he  had  found  a  better  religion  than 
the  worship  of  the  gods  which  their  forefathers  had 
served  for  generations. 

To  be  sure,  there  had  been  times  when  these  same 
old  villagers  themselves  had  lost  patience  with  the 
gods,  but  that,  as  they  thought,  did  not  prove  them 
altogether  useless  and  bad.  These  were  times  when  the 
growing  crops  needed  rain  which  the  heavens  did  not 
send.  Without  rain  there  could  be  no  crop,  and  with- 
out a  crop  there  must  be  famine,  suffering,  and  death 
among    the    inhabitants    of    the    district. 

At  such  times  the  old  men  acting  as  fathers  of 
the  village  had  declared  a  holiday.  Everybody  went 
318 


Deliverance  of  Keh  and  His  Son 


319 


to  the  shrines  and  temples  to  plead  for  rain.  They 
feasted  the  gods,  and  when  they  were  supposed  to  be 
full  of  good  things,  prayed  for  rain  upon  their  parched 
land,  that  the  worshipers,  too,  might  eat  and  be  satisfied. 
When  rain  did  not  come,  they  became  disgusted 
with    gods    so    careless    of    their    needs.      They    then 


LEFT     OUT    IJN     THE    SUN 


took  measures  to  convince  the  idols  of  the  intensity  of 
the  heat  and  severity  of  the  drouth.  The  principal 
rain  god  was  carried  out  into  an  open  space  and 
set  in  the  sun  without  food  or  drink,  sometimes  for 
days,  till  he  should  feel  what  it  is  to  be  hungry  and 
thirsty   and   scorched   with   heat. 


320  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

I  once  knew  of  a  village  where  the  people,  on  oc- 
casion of  a  prolonged  drouth,  left  their  god  in  the 
sun  without  food  or  drink  for  three  weeks,  till  the  head 
of  the  wooden  idol  cracked  with  the  heat.  He  was 
insulted  with  jeering  and  spitting,  showered  with  fire- 
crackers and  rockets,  and  serenaded  with  metal  gongs 
to  keep  him  awake  till  he  could  suffer  it  no  longer, 
and    would    answer    the    people's    prayers    for    rain. 

But  punishment  of  careless  gods  was  a  very  dif- 
ferent thing  to  them  from  forsaking  their  worship 
altogether.  The  idea  that  Keh  Cheng  Soan  pro- 
fessed that  he  had  found  a  better  God  or  a  more 
effectual  worship,  was  beyond  the  best  thinking  of  the 
very  oldest  men.  They  pronounced  him  a  vain-headed 
upstart,  deceived  by  the  doctrines  of  the  "  foreign 
devils." 

The  younger  men  of  his  own  age  thought  him 
crazy,  while  the  women  of  the  village  were  filled 
with  terror  that  a  home  in  their  very  midst  had 
ceased  to  worship  the  idols.  There  was  no  telling, 
they  whispered  one  to  another  in  great  alarm,  what 
disaster  of  storm  or  pestilence  of  disease  might  come 
upon  them  from  the  anger  of  the  offended  gods. 
To  avert  such  disaster  these  women  applied  them- 
selves   the    more    zealously    to    their    heathen    worship. 

All  this  talk  about  one  Jesus  Christ,  who  saves 
from  sin  —  what  could  it  mean  ?  Was  not  sin  —  the 
sin  of  a  man  like  their  clansman  Cheng  Soan,  who 
had  neither  murdered,  nor  stolen,  nor  cheated  the 
poor  —  only  the  neglect  to  worship  the  spirits  of  his 
dead  forefathers  with  becoming  devotion?  Why  should 
he  be  so  afraid  of  his  sins?  Had  he  not  always  been 
forepiost    among    the    worshipers?       What,     then,     di4 


Deliverance  of  Keh  and  His  Son  321 

he  mean  by  saying  that   now  the   blood   of   Christ   had 
taken    away    his   sins? 

After  this  manner  the  heathen  reasoned  over  the 
new   faith   of   their   clansman   Cheng   Soan. 

The  fiercest  struggle  of  all  came  when  it  was  told 
about  that  Keh  Cheng  Soan  and  his  wife  had  renounced 
the  worship  of  ancestors  altogether.  We  would  think 
the  man  who  left  his  old  father  and  mother  without 
food  and  clothing  to  follow  the  strange  teacher  of  a 
new    doctrine,    a   very   ungrateful,    unloving   son. 

The  Chinese  suppose  that  after  death  the  spirits 
of  their  ancestors  are  in  the  same  need  of  these 
things,  and  as  dependent  for  happiness  upon  the  love 
and  care  of  their  children,  as  they  were  while  yet 
alive.  Beyond  that,  they  are  more  dependent  upon 
them  than  are  the  living,  who  may  beg,  while  those 
in  the  spirit  world  are  utterly  unable  to  get  things 
for  themselves  by  any  means.  It  may  readily  be  seen 
that  the  man  who  deserts  ancestor  worship  is  re- 
garded by  his  fellow  countrymen  as  ungrateful,  un- 
dutiful,  an  altogether  worthless,  and  even  a  dangerous 
fellow. 

The  wisest  of  old  women  predicted  that  in  pun- 
ishment for  setting  aside  the  sacred  customs  of  China, 
and  especially  for  deserting  the  ancestors,  Keh  Cheng 
Soan's  posterity  would  be  cut  ofiF,  They  meant  that 
no  more  sons  or  daughters  would  ever  be  born  to  his 
family. 

In  spite  of  persecution,  through  falsehood  and  ill 
report,  the  new  Christian  convert  continued  a  stead- 
fast follower  of  Christ.  He  went  to  a  mission  school 
to  study  the  Scriptures,  and  finally  became  a  preacher 
of  the  gospel. 
21 


322  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

The  sayings  of  the  old  women  failed  completely, 
for  a  son  was  born  into  their  home,  and  afterward 
a  bright-eyed  baby  girl  came  to  gladden  the  mother's 
heart.  In  reading  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ,  Keh 
and    his    wife    had    learned    that    all    souls    are    equally 


KEII      NGA    PIT    AND    HIS    FAMILY 

This  man  is  the  boy  in  the  story. 

precious    in    his   sight.      Sons    and    daughters,    alike,    are 
gifts  of  hi3  love. 

Keh  Cheng  Soan  was  sent  by  the  missionaries  to  the 
village  of  Liong  Bun,  in  the  district  of  Chin  Po.  These 
names  are  not  to  be  found  on  the  map  in  our  school 
geographies,  but  this  place  is  not  far  inland  from  the 
great  seacoast  city  of  Amoy,  in  the  province  of  Fukien. 


Deliverance  of  Keh  and  His  Son  323 

There  a  little  company  of  believers  had  taken  their 
stand  to  follow  Christ,  and  the  young  evangelist  was 
appointed   their   leader. 

At  Liong  Bun  another  son  was  born.  There  were 
almost  no  doctors  or  trained  nurses  in  those  days 
to  aid  the  mothers  of  China.  Alone,  with  only  an 
untaught  coolie  woman  for  help,  the  wife  of  Keh 
passed  her  days  of  suffering.  When  at  last  the  old 
woman  announced,  "A  son  is  born,"  the  mother 
quietly  thanked  God.  In  rejoicing  over  their  child 
the  parents  did  not  wish  to  forget  God's  help  in 
trouble.  They  called  his  name  Nga  Pit  (or  Jabez), 
"  Because  I  bear  him  with  sorrow,"  the  mother  said. 
1  Chron.  4 : 9.  Both  father  and  mother  dearly  loved 
this  child,  perhaps  even  more  than  the  brother  and 
sister    older    than    he. 

In  the  year  1873,  when  Tsu  Eng,  as  Nga  Pit's 
household  name  was  called,  was  eight  years  old,  the 
people  of  the  Chin  Po  district  rebelled  against  the 
government  of  China.  There  was  nothing  strange 
about  such  an  uprising,  for  the  people  of  China  were 
very  much  dissatisfied  with  its  rulers.  Rebellions  from 
one  cause  or  another  were  frequent  in  all  parts  of  the 
empire.  The  ruling  royal  family  of  the  time  were 
the  Manchus,  a  foreign  race  who  sorely  oppressed  the 
native  people.  In  rebellion  against,  and  hatred  for, 
their  foreign  rulers,  the  Chinese  had  unfortunately  come 
to  distrust  all  foreigners.  Even  the  missionaries  were 
suspected  of  evil  intentions,  and  their  Chinese  fol- 
lowers were  looked   upon  with  suspicion. 

Keh's  village,  Liong  Bun,  joined  with  a  near-by 
village  of  Sio  Si,  in  revolt,  and  together  they  hoisted 
a    rebel    flag   at   Tao    Bo    (Big    Hat)    Mountain    as    a 


Delivera/ire  of  Keh  and  His  So?i  325 

signal  to  the  country  to  join  them.  The  people  of 
both  villages  and  the  country  around  became  greatly 
excited.  Now  that  the  fighting  spirit  was  up,  the 
rebel  leaders  decided  to  make  a  clean  sweep  of  the 
foreigners  and  their  followers,  beginning  with  the  zeal- 
ous preacher  of  the  Christian  chapel  at  Liong  Bun. 

On  the  twelfth  day  of  the  Chinese  ninth  month, 
forty-nine  strong  men,  armed  with  knives  and  fire- 
arms, entered  the  village  as  the  sun  was  setting. 
Keh  Cheng  Soan  stood  by  the  door  of  his  house 
when  three  strange-looking  men  passed  that  way.  He 
greeted  them  politely,  and  they  paused  beside  his 
door.  As  they  were  talking  together,  one  of  the  men 
took  up  the  boy  Tsu  Eng  rather  roughly  in  his  arms. 

"  I  beg  you,  do  not  tease  the  lad,"  said  the  father 
Keh.  "  These  few  days  he  has  not  been  well,  and 
only  today  has   begun   to   get   better." 

These  words  had  scarcely  passed  his  lips  when 
the  whole  armed  band  dashed  into  sight.  Seizing  both 
father   and    child,    they    hurried    to    get    away. 

Mrs.  Keh  was  inside,  preparing  the  evening  meal, 
when  the  scuffle  of  feet  and  the  loud  tones  of  strange 
voices  drew  her  to  the  door  in  time  to  see  the  angry 
mob  seize  her  husband  and  child.  At  the  risk  of  her 
own  life  she  dashed  into  their  midst  to  rescue  her  child, 
but  the  men  threatened  her  with  their  swords  and  drove 
her  back  into  the  house.  In  the  tumult  of  rebellion 
there  was  not  a  soul  to  hear  her  cry,  so  the  helpless 
woman  gathered  her  remaining  children  with  her  into 
the   house  to   pray. 

That  evening  Evangelist  Keh  Cheng  Soan  and  his 
eight-year-old  son,  Tsu  Eng,  were  taken  to  the 
neighboring  village,  where  they  were  locked   in  a  dark 


326 


A'Chu  niid   Other  Stories 


room  alone  for  the  night.  Next  morning  the  cap- 
tives were  told  that  a  great  army  was  to  be  raised, 
and  when  all  the  towns  and  cities  of  the  surround- 
ing country  had  surrendered  to  the  rebels,  they  would 
celebrate     their     victory     by     sacrificing     the     Christian 


STREET  TN  A   CHINESE  VILLAGE 


preacher  and  his  son  on  the  mountain  top  before 
their  flag.  This  threat  was  repeated  over  and  over  to 
the    victims    for    three    days    in    succession. 

Shut  up  in  the  dark  room,  with  no  way  of  es- 
cape, the  captives  were  not  alone.  In  telling  this 
incident,  which  he  still  well  remembers,  Pastor  Keh 
Nga    Pit    said,    "  My    father    prayed    day    and    night. 


Deliverance  of  Keh  and  His  Son  327 

beseeching  God  to  open  the  way  before  us,  to  hear 
our  prayers  and  deliver  us  from  our  enemies.  He 
often  spoke  to  me,  *  Son,  fear  not.  Our  heavenly 
Father  is  able  to  save  us.  Only  believe,  and  do 
not    doubt    his    promises.' " 

On  the  evening  of  the  third  day,  being  the  fifteenth 
day  of  the  Chinese  month,  the  moon  came  up  beau- 
tiful and  bright.  The  rebels  w^ere  in  high  spirits,  and 
all  the  inhabitants  of  the  village,  both  grovrn  people 
and  children,  came  out  into  the  moonlight,  and  gave 
themselves  up  to  merrymaking,  with  wild  dancing  and 
playing. 

In  the  midst  of  their  gayeties,  suddenly  a  strange 
dark  shadow  began  to  creep  across  the  moon.  "  An 
evil  omen!  "  hoarsely  whispered  the  old  men.  They 
had  planned  a  great  war  of  rebellion  that  would 
throw  the  yoke  of  foreign  rule  from  off  the  neck 
of  the  Chinese  people  and  exalt  their  native  village 
to  be  the  very  capital  of  the  empire.  Now,  lo,  at  the 
very  beginning,  the  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth  showed 
his  displeasure  with  them  by  darkening  the  moon. 

An  order  was  given  to  bring  the  drums  at  once. 
All  the  gongs  to  be  found  in  the  village  and  all  the 
drums  that  could  be  mustered  were  brought  and 
beaten  violently  to  save  the  moon.  But  the  dark 
shadow  crept  silently  on.  The  people  were  terrified 
at  the  sight,  and  in  the  darkness  groped  their  way  back 
to  their  homes.  They  were  filled  with  fear  of  a  ter- 
rible punishment  to  be  visited  upon  their  wrong-doings. 

However,  the  eclipse  passed  over  before  midnight. 
Then  the  people  cooked  the  small  lunch  customarily 
served  at  night  on  such  occasions,  and  refreshed  them- 
selves. 


328 


A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 


Up  to  this  time  the  rebels  had  been  very  cruel 
to  their  Christian  captives.  "  Formerly  they  threat- 
ened to  kill  us,"  said  Pastor  Keh;  *' now  they  were 
changed,  and  begged  us  to  eat  with  them  the  lunch 
they  had  prepared.  Afterward  they  urgently  besought 
my  father  to  leave  their  village,  and  return  to  his 
home.  On  the  seventeenth  day,  five  days  after  our 
capture,  they  hired  a  comfortable  sedan  chair,  and 
carried  us  home  with  a  large  escort  of  people." 

In  closing  the  recital  of  this  incident,  he  said, 
"  This  is  an  experience  I  myself  passed  through  when 
only  eight  years  of  age.  Does  not  this  plainly  show 
that  the  true  God  hears  and  answers  the  prayers  of 
his  people?  " 


HOW  A  KIDNAPPED   BOY  WAS   FOUND 

WHEN  Evangelist  Tan  Khi  was  a  young  man  liv- 
ing in  the  city  Chin  Chiu,  one  of  his  sons  was 
kidnapped  and  carried  to  a  large  city  on  the  seacoast, 
where  he  was  sold  into  the  home  of  a  very  wicked 
woman.  While  far  away  among  strangers,  the  boy 
remained  true  to  what  he  had  been  taught.  His  con- 
duct showed  him  to  be  a  Christian  child,  and  was  at  last 
the  means  of  his  being  returned  to  his  father's  house. 

This  boy's  name  was  Su  Lai,  which  means  "  a  gift 
come."  The  parents  were  Christians,  and  believed  their 
children  were  God's  gift  to  them.  For  this  reason  the 
child  was  named  "  Gift  Come,"  to 
help  them  remember  their  duty  to 
train  him  up  to  fear  the  Lord. 

The  village  homes  of  China,  as  a 
rule,  are  small,  dark,  and  damp. 
There  are  very  seldom  any  fires  for 
heating  the  rooms,  and  no  glass 
windows  to  let  in  the  sunshine. 
When  the  weather  is  chilly,  the  in- 
mates go  outside  to  get  warm. 
Sometimes  the  children  are  tethered 
out  with  a  strong  cord  fastened  to 

the  doorway  at  one  end  and  tied  around  a  wee  ankle  at 
the  other  end.  The  very  tiny  one  may  be  locked  in  a 
rude  gocart  on  wobbly  wheels.  He  kicks  and  crows  as  if 
he  were  taking  part  in  the  play;  and  though  his  gocart 
never  gets  him  anywhere,  the  sunshine  and  exercise  keep 
him  warm  and  contented. 

One  day  Su  Lai  was  allowed  to  go  to  the  vegetable 
market  with   his   sister.      He   was   now   four   years   old, 
22  329 


330  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

and  on  this  occasion  was  left  free  to  run  about  without 
a  rope.  He  was  not  likely  to  wander  far,  and  in  a 
village  like  theirs  everybody  knew  everybody  else,  and 
his  children,  too.  No  venturesome  "  sprout,"  as  their 
name  for  "  son  "  really  means,  of  the  family  tree  would 
get  far  away  before  some  interested  neighbor  would  spy 
him  and  bring  him  home  again. 

That  afternoon  when  "  Gift  Come  "  went  to  the  mar- 
ket, he  was  left  to  look  around  while  his  sister  was  busy 
buying  things  for  supper.  She  did  not  notice  how  rap- 
idly the  time  passed,  nor  that  the  child  was  gone,  till 
she  was  ready  to  go  home.  The  market  was  only  a 
short  way  from  home.  In  a  few  minutes  the  father  and 
mother  knew  their  child  was  missing.  They  ran  out 
quickly,  one  this  way  and  the  other  that,  to  inquire 
among  their  friends  and  neighbors,  but  no  one  had 
seen  their  child. 

There  were  no  police  and  no  detectives  to  aid  in  the 
search.  According  to  Chinese  custom  when  a  child  is 
lost,  the  parents  took  drums  and  went  throughout  the 
village  beating  the  drums  and  calling  loudly  the  name 
of  the  lost  child.  In  a  very  short  time  the  word  was 
passed  from  house  to  house,  "  Tan  Khi's  son  Su  Lai 
is  lost."  But  no  one  had  seen  the  missing  child. 
Mothers  looked  scared.  They  drew  their  own  little  ones 
close  into  their  houses,  and  fears  were  whispered  from 
door  to  door. 

Friends  joined  the  parents,  and  every  corner  of  the 
village,  even  out  to  the  country  about,  was  scoured  in 
search  of  their  child.  But  night  came  on  and  Su  Lai 
was  not  found. 

The  parents  were  quite  certain  now  that  the  child 
had  been  stolen.     They  were  stricken  with  grief  at  the 


A  Kidnapped  Boy  331 

thought,  but  determined  not  to  give  up  the  search.  They 
prayed  continually  that  God  would  bring  him  back  to 
them.  Large  handbills  describing  the  child  and  im- 
ploring aid  in  finding  him  were  posted  in  all  the 
public   places. 

Thirty  days,  with  their  long,  sleepless  nights,  passed 
by,  and  no  trace  of  the  child  was  discovered.  Then  the 
father  thought  of  writing  a  few  lines  to  the  church  pa- 
per, asking  all  Christians  to  aid  in  searching  for  his  son. 

It  happened  that  this  church  paper  was  published  in 
the  very  same  city  on  the  seacoast  to  which  the  child, 
"  Gift  Come,"  had  been  brought  and  sold.  A  number 
of  Christians  who  read  the  paper  lived  in  the  city.  It 
happened,  also,  that  one  of  these  Christians  lived  next 
door  to  the  woman  who  had  bought  the  child.  Many 
children  come  and  go  in  a  large  Chinese  house,  and 
perhaps  the  Christian  woman  never  would  have  noticed 
the  little  stranger  in  a  great  city,  but  that  her  neighbor 
called  one  day,  bringing  the  child  with  her.  His  actions 
had  puzzled  her  completely. 

"  Madam,"  she  said  to  the  Christian  woman,  "  will 
you  please  take  notice?  Is  not  this  child  I  lately  bought 
a  worship-God  man?  It  is  surprising  to  see  the  way  he 
acts.  When  he  gets  up  in  the  morning,  he  kneels  to 
pray.  We  call  him  to  eat  rice,  and  place  the  food  ready 
before  him,  but  he  stops  first  to  pray.  We  leave  him 
wait  till  he  becomes  very  hungry,  still  he  prays  before 
he  eats.  Before  going  to  bed  at  night  he  sings  and 
prays.  We  are  not  able  to  turn  him  from  his  strange 
way  of  doing.  Is  he  not  a  follower  of  your  Christian 
doctrine?  " 

At  this  moment  there  flashed  into  the  woman's  mind 
a  recollection  of  what  she  had  read.     Sorrowing  parents 


332  A'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

had  asked  all  Christians  to  help  search  for  their  lost  son. 
Without  betraying  her  real  purpose,  she  asked  many 
questions  about  the  child,  and  carefully  took  notice  to 
see  if  it  answered  to  the  description  given  in  the  church 
paper.  She  believed  this  was  the  lost  son,  and  immedi- 
ately sent  a  letter  to  the  father,  asking  him  to  come  and 
see  the  child. 

Evangelist  Tan  Khi  at  once  took  passage  on  a  small 
boat  down  the  coast  to  the  great  city,  taking  with  him 
the  sister  from  whose  care  the  child  had  been  snatched 
away.  He  soon  found  the  home  of  the  Christian  family, 
and  from  the  woman's  description  was  convinced  that 
her  neighbor's  adopted  son  was  his  own  lost  child. 

A  plot  was  laid  by  which  he  hoped  to  get  into  the 
house  to  see  for  himself.  Dressed  as  a  countryman,  he 
led  his  little  daughter  from  house  to  house,  inquiring 
for  some  one  willing  to  buy  her.  Of  course  he  must 
have  made  one  excuse  and  another  why  he  could  not 
accept  the  oifers  made  for  her.  Finally  he  arrived  at 
the  big  house.  Here  he  appeared  very  anxious  to  sell 
the  girl,  and  begged  to  be  allowed  to  show  her  to  the 
madam.  While  the  father  of  "  Gift  Come  "  bantered 
with  the  woman,  the  sister  kept  her  bright  eyes  keen, 
searching  for  the  brother.  Before  they  left  the  house, 
both   were   certain   Su   Lai   was   there. 

However,  the  way  was  not  yet  clear  for  the  father  to 
get  his  boy  back  again.  This  family  were  heathen  people, 
and  besides,  were  well  known  to  be  cruel  and  wicked. 
They  had  paid  their  money  for  the  boy,  and  were  not 
the  kind  to  care  much  where  he  came  from,  if  only  he 
might  be  taught  to  follow  their  ways.  No  telling  what 
might  happen  if  they  should  find  out  the  rightful  father 
was  next  door,  waiting  to  claim  his  child.     The  father 


A  Kidnapped  Boy  333 

could  not  go  to  the  officers  of  the  city  and  ask  for  help 
to  get  his  child  back  again.  This  would  require  a  large 
sum  of  money,  more  than  he  could  possibly  pay. 

The  father  was  in  great  distress.  He  now  knew  the 
very  house  where  his  son  was  confined,  but  seemed  help- 
less to  do  anything  to  secure  his  return.  In  fact,  he 
felt  sure  it  was  beyond  the  power  of  man  to  accomplish. 
He  prayed  with  all  his  heart  that  God  would  in  some 
way  release  his  child,  and  give  him  back  to  the  parents' 
loving  care. 

Ten  days  passed  while  he  waited,  praying,  and  then 
the  answer  came.  Some  of  the  Christians  in  that  city 
knew  a  certain  Chinese  officer  whom  they  believed  to 
be  very  just  and  kind-hearted.  One  of  these  Christians 
spoke  to  this  mandarin  of  the  heartbroken  father  who 
had  come  a  long  way  to  find  his  son,  but  could  not  get 
him  back.  The  mandarin  immediately  called  out  a  band 
of  armed  soldiers,  and  sent  them  with  orders  to  fetch 
the  child  and  return  him  to  his  own  father. 

This  son  has  since  grown  to  manhood  in  his  father's 
home.  He  attended  our  mission  school,  and  is  now 
preaching  the  gospel  to  his  own  people,  as  his  father 
before  him  did. 

Because  Su  Lai  was  taught  to  love  the  Lord  and  was 
faithful  in  prayer  and  worship  before  a  heathen  family, 
he  came  to  be  known  as  a  "  worship-God  man."  This 
was  the  sign  by  which  he  was  discovered  and  brought 
back  to  his  father's  house. 


CHAN    SIT    YIN,    ANOTHER    BIBLE    STUDENT 


;ky    §4 


334 


WANG*S   CHOICE 

WANG  is  the  son  of  a  merchant  in  a  walled  city 
of  China,  Kaifeng  Fu,  capital  of  Honan  Province. 
Being  the  eldest  son,  according  to  Chinese  custom,  he 
would  be  expected  to  succeed  his  father,  not  only  as 
head  of  the  family,  but  also  in  the  business  which  pro- 
vides the  family  support.  In  order  that  he  might  be 
prepared  for  this  position,  the  father  took  particular 
pains  to  acquaint  his  son  with  all  the  details  of  his 
business  affairs.  Accordingly,  when  Wang  was  about 
fifteen  j^ears  old,  he  accompanied  his  father  on  an  un- 
usually   long    and    important    business    trip. 

At  that  time  the  city  of  Sin-yang-chow  marked  the 
northern  terminus  of  the  new  railway  running  from 
Hankow,  the  greatest  city  of  central  China,  north  toward 
Peking,  the  imperial  capital  of  the  empire.  Leaving  the 
railway  at  this  point,  father  and  son  were  delayed, 
waiting  means  of  conveyance  on  their  journey  toward 
home. 

Here  they  met  Evangelist  Lai  and  heard  him  tell 
how  the  Lord  had  found  him,  a  proud  Confucianist,  — 
a  Pharisee,  —  and  had  changed  his  heart  and  made  him 
a  disciple  of  the  humble  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Neither 
Wang  nor  his  father  had  ever  heard  of  such  an  experi- 
ence before.  They  were  interested,  and  resolved  to 
become  better  acquainted  with  this  new  doctrine.  By 
inquiry  they  found  the  way  across  the  river  to  our 
mission  at  San-li-tien.  There  they  took  up  their  wait 
in    a    small    native    inn    near    the    mission. 

They  spent  their  days  reading  from  the  Bible  they 
had  purchased,  and  every  evening  found  them  attentive 
listeners   at   the  mission   chapel.      Some   two   weeks   had 

335 


336  J^Chu  and   Other  Stories 

passed  in  this  way  when  the  pair  went  away  as  quietly 
as  they  had  come. 

On  reaching  home,  the  father's  time  and  thoughts 
were  fully  occupied  with  business.  The  good  seed  sown 
in  his  heart  seemed  to  have  fallen  among  thorns.  It 
was  choked  with  the  cares  and  riches  of  this  life.  For 
the  time,  at  least,  he  put  away  thoughts  of  the  heavenly 
doctrine,  as  they  called  the  Scriptures,  and  gradually  fell 
back  into  his  old  practices  of  heathen  worship. 

Not  so  with  little  Wang.  His  young  heart  was  free 
from  the  responsibilities  and  cares  of  business,  and  there- 
fore was  more  open  to  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
He  protested  against  the  vain  worship  of  idols  in  their 
home.  He  pleaded  that,  instead,  they  ought  to  believe 
on  the  true  Saviour,  and  prepare  to  meet  him  at  his 
coming. 

Seeing  that  his  father  remained  indifferent,  the  boy 
openly  confessed  to  him  that  he  had  no  desire  to  succeed 
him  in  business  as  a  merchant.  He  begged  to  be  allowed 
to  choose  for  himself,  for  he  very  earnestly  desired  to 
be  a  Christian  and  to  become  a  worker  for  Jesus  Christ. 

God  must  have  touched  the  strong  man's  heart,  for 
strangely  enough,  the  father  listened  kindly,  and  granted 
the  boy's  request.  Only  one  condition,  he  said,  would 
he  impose  upon  his  son.  If  the  boy  left  home,  he  must 
go  directly  to  the  mission,  join  himself  to  the  foreign 
teachers,  and  be  obedient  to  the  Scriptures  with  all  his 
heart. 

Wang  gladly  accepted  this  condition,  and  prepared 
at  once  to  follow  his  choice.  He  was  clothed  in  a  new 
suit  of  blue  cotton  homespun  over  the  warmly  padded 
winter  garments.  His  feet  were  protected  by  straw  san- 
dals over  white  cotton  cloth  stockings.     A  string  of  cash 


fVang's  Choice  337 

pieces,  slung  over  his  shoulder,  was  intended  to  meet 
his  expenses  on  the  way.  With  a  blanket  for  a  bed 
and  another  pair  of  cotton  sox  and  straw  sandals  rolled 
in  a  bundle  on  his  back,  he  made  his  way  through  the 
gates  of  his  native  city  out  across  the  great  plains. 

It  was  a  long  journey  —  some  two  hundred  miles  from 
Kaifeng  Fu  back  to  the  humble  village  of  San-li-tien. 
Like  Jacob,  he  traveled  on  foot,  across  country,  and 
without  a  companion.  But  on  his  arrival  at  the  mission 
Wang  testified  that  he  had  not  been  lonely  nor  afraid, 
for  as  he  pursued  his  journey  by  narrow,  crooked  paths 
through  the  fields  and  around  the  vegetable  gardens  of 
China's  great  central  plain,  heavenly  angels  guarded  his 
way,  and  the  Spirit  told  him  in  his  heart  that  his  choice 
pleased  God. 

No  one  at  the  mission  had  asked  the  boy  to  come 
back,  nor  had  any  promise  of  a  home,  or  even  of  help 
in  earning  a  living,  been  made  to  him.  When  Evan- 
gelist Lai  asked  why  he  had  returned  and  how  he  ex- 
pected to  get  a  living,  Wang  replied  that  he  had  come 
back  to  study  the  Scriptures  and  to  become  a  follower 
of  Jesus.  As  to  food  and  clothes,  he  had  read  the 
words  of  the  Lord,  "  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God, 
and  his  righteousness;  and  all  these  things  shall  be  added 
unto  you." 

Wang  had  been  at  the  mission  some  two  months  when 
I  visited  the  place.  He  was  always  cheerful  and  ready 
to  do  his  part,  which,  as  he  was  the  youngest  of  the 
group  of  native  students  in  the  Bible  class,  was  often  the 
performance  of  the  most  menial  tasks  about  the  place. 
He  was  called  to  run  errands,  to  sweep  the  bare  dirt 
floors,  to  buy  the  vegetables  and  prepare  them,  to  cook 
the  rice  over  an  open  fire  in  a  small  cookhouse  without 


338  J'Chu  and  Other  Stories 

a  smoke  chimney,  and  to  do  many  other  duties  performed 
by  the  servants  in  his  father's  house.  Through  it  all 
he  remained  steadfast  in  his  choice.  By  diligence  and 
attention  to  duty,  polite  manners,  and  courteous  bearing, 
he  won  his  way  among  the  older  men  at  the  station. 
They  came  to  speak  of  him  as  Little  Wang,  and  as 
tenderly  as  Jacob  might  have  spoken  of   Benjamin. 

On  the  last  Sabbath  of  our  visit,  all  the  mission  family 
gathered  at  the  riverside  to  see  six  native  believers  in 
Christ  baptized.  Little  Wang  stood  there,  the  rear  one 
of  the  group,  his  short,  stout  figure  quite  in  contrast  to 
the  tall,  dignified  form  of  the  evangelist  and  the  tall, 
angular  figure  of  Mr.  Ho.  The  snug  black-satin  cap 
was  pulled  well  down  over  his  clean-shaven  head,  from 
under  it  the  queue  fell  down  his  back,  a  heavy,  long, 
glossy  black  braid.  His  chubby  hands  were  drawn  up 
under  the  protecting  folds  of  the  cotton-padded  sleeves. 

When  his  turn  came,  Wang  stepped  out  into  the  clear 
stream.  Clasping  his  hands  over  his  breast,  he  turned 
his  round  face  toward  the  blue  heavens,  while  big  tears 
of  joy  and  gratitude  rolled  down  over  his  ruddy  cheeks. 

The  last  I  heard  of  Little  Wang  he  was  still  pur- 
suing the  fixed  choice  which  led  him  to  forsake  his 
father's  house  in  order  that  he  might  serve  God.  He 
had  grown  to  manhood,  and  was  foreman  of  a  depart- 
ment in  our  publishing  house  in  Shanghai.  There  he 
remains,  sending  out  the  printed  gospel  message,  doing 
his  utmost  to  lead  his  fellow  countrymen  to  choose,  as 
he  has  chosen,  the  riches  of  an  eternal  kingdom  rather 
than  the  deceptive  pleasures  of  this  world. 


THE    SCHOOL   AROUND   A   RICE    SIEVE 

PASTOR  HUNG  HEX  YING  once  told  a  story 
that  goes  to  show  how  much  one  Bible  may  do  to 
free  and  brighten  a  whole  neighborhood. 

A  Chinese  farmer  living  in  a  small  village  far  back 
in  the  country  made  a  long  journey  to  the  chief  city  of 
his  prefect.  This  city  lay  on  the  seacoast  of  China. 
Ships  of  foreign  nations  stopped  to  unload  in  its  har- 
bor goods  of  many  sorts  from  distant  lands.  In  turn 
the  ships  were  loaded  with  products  of  the  Far  East 
and  went  on  their  way. 

When  the  farmer  had  finished  his  business  in  the  city, 
there  was  still  a  little  money  in  his  pouch.  He  decided 
to  purchase  some  article  from  a  foreign  land  which  he 
might  take  home  to  show  his  neighbors.  Very  few  if 
any  of  the  villagers  had  been  to  the  city.  Quite  cer- 
tainly something  of  foreign  make  would  be  a  curiosity 
to  them. 

He  entered  a  shop  where  the  sign  in  bold  characters 
beside  the  door  read,  "  Foreign  and  Chinese  Goods  for 
Sale."  There  were  many  attractive  things  he  would 
have  liked  to  take  home.  But  the  farmer's  money  was 
little  and  the  shopkeeper's  prices  were  big.  So  he  left 
the  shop  to  look  elsewhere. 

On  the  street  two  men  were  selling  books  from  a 
pack.  The  farmer  could  read  characters.  He  was  proud 
of  that  fact.  Only  a  very  few  men,  and  doubtless  not 
a  single  woman,  in  his  village  could  read.  He  stopped 
to   examine  the   books. 

"  Don't  be  deceived,"  said  a  warning  voice  at  his 
elbow,  "  that  is  a  bad  book  for  a  man  of  our  Middle 
Kingdom.     It  teaches  the  foreign  religion."    The  speaker 

339 


340 


A^Chu  and  Other  Stories 


cast  a  contemptuous  glance  at  the  men  with  the  pack, 
and  passed  on. 

"The  foreign  religion  indeed!"  mused  the  country 
villager.  He  was  looking  for  something  foreign.  He 
opened  a  book  at  its  first  page. 

"  *  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heavens  and  the 
earth.'  This  sounds  strange.  Perhaps,  as  the  old  man 
said,  this  is  a  foreign  book,"  he  reasoned.  He  asked  the 
price.  Yes,  he  could  afford  that  price,  so  he  bought  the 
book  and  carried  it  home. 


rnr^RATiNG  with  wheelbarrow,  bedding,  and  books 


School  Around  a  Rice  Sieve  341 

In  this  way  a  single  copy  of  the  Bible  found  its  way 
into  a  village  of  China  where  no  living  voice  had  yet 
taught  God's  word.  Here  is  Pastor  Hung's  story  of 
the  influence  of  that  book  as  he  told  it  in  his  own  native 
speech : 

"  Some  time  ago,"  said  the  earnest  preacher,  "  I  was 
itinerating  among  the  country  villages  back  in  the  in- 
terior from  my  home  church.  On  one  occasion  I  was 
struck  with  the  unusual  appearance  of  a  village  where 
we  stopped.  It  was  much  more  cleanly  than  any  through 
which  we  had  passed.  Both  men  and  women  were  more 
friendly,  and  looked  more  hopeful  and  cheerful  than  the 
dwellers  in  the  surrounding  villages.  Their  children 
played  together  in  the  street  with  happy  faces.  On  our 
arrival  they  gathered  about  my  company  of  helpers,  and 
inquired  if  we  had  come  to  teach  them. 

"  I  was  surprised  to  find  they  already  knew  of  the 
Bible,  and  could  answer  a  great  many  questions  about 
it.  They  were  acquainted  with  the  story  of  many  men 
spoken  of  in  the  Scriptures.  This  was  strange  indeed. 
Very  well  I  knew  these  village  women  could  not  read. 
Doubtless  very  few  of  the  men  were  able  to  read. 
Where,  then,  had  these  children  learned? 

"  I  asked  if  they  had  a  school  in  their  village. 

"  *  No,'  they  answered. 

*' *  Do  you  have  a  gospel  chapel  here?' 

"  '  No,'  there  was  no  chapel  in  that  part. 

"  *  Where,  then,  have  you  learned  these  things  ?  '  I 
asked. 

"  One  boy  answered  that  a  certain  man  of  their  vil- 
lage —  all  the  children  respectfully  called  him  '  Uncle  ' 
—  had  bought  a  book  called  '  The  Holy  Bible,'  and 
that  he  taught  them  a  little  from  it  every  evening. 


342  A'Chu  mid  Other  Stories 

"  I  made  it  my  purpose,"  said  Pastor  Hung,  "  to 
search  this  man  out,  and  this  is  what  I  found: 

"  He  was  a  farmer.  He  lived  in  a  little  dried  mud- 
brick  house  with  a  straw  roof  and  no  floor.  He  was 
a  poor  man,  too.  He  rented  the  ground  which  he  cul- 
tivated, and  was  obliged  to  pay  a  high  rent  to  his  land- 
lord. But  he  had  learned  to  love  the  Book,  and  every 
day,  after  the  evening  meal,  he  beat  a  gong  at  the  door 
of  his  home.  His  own  children  came  in,  and  as  many 
others  as  were  free  from  their  work  and  wished  to  study. 

"  A  broad  rice  sieve  made  of  bamboo  splints  woven 
like  a  basket  was  turned  upside  down  over  a  grain  bas- 
ket. The  children  clustered  around,  each  scrambling 
for  a  place  near  enough  to  see  the  characters,  and  if 
possible  to  touch  with  their  finger  tips  the  leaves  of  their 
one  lesson  book. 

"  The  rice  sieve  was  their  desk.  The  plain  farmer 
was  their  teacher.  The  school  went  on  merrily  for  an 
hour  or  more.  The  teacher  pointed  and  named  the 
characters,  while  all  the  children  together  repeated  them 
after  him.  Then  each  child  took  his  turn  in  standing 
in  front  of  the  precious  Book  and  reading  the. lesson  by 
himself.  After  this  the  teacher  spent  a  few  minutes 
explaining,  as  best  he  was  able,  the  meaning  of  what 
they  had  read. 

"  The  lesson  over,  their  desk  was  turned  right  side 
up  and  again  became  a  rice  sieve.  Their  teacher  was 
as  quickly  transformed   into  the  farmer. 

"  '  Come,  children,'  he  would  call  gayly,  '  we  must 
work  the  harder  to  make  up  for  the  time  we  have 
spent  in  reading.     All  hands  move  swiftly.' 

"  The  children  flew  to  their  work  with  the  same 
eager   spirit    they  had    shown    in   their   study.      Nimble 


School  Around  a  Rice  Si 


343 


fingers  gathered  out  chaff  and  cockle  and  shriveled  ker- 
nels of  unripened  grain  from  among  the  plump,  white 
kernels  shaken  out  on  the  broad  bottom  of  the  sieve. 
These  they  tossed  into  a  hamper  at  the  side.  But  the 
clean,  picked  rice  was  poured  into  strong  sacks  to  be 
stored   for  market. 

"  These  village  people  were  too  poor  to  spare  the 
children  from  work  during  the  daytime.  They  were 
too  poor  to  support  a  school,  or  even  to  buy  desks  and 
books.  But  their  earnestness  and  zeal  made  up  the  lack 
of  these  things. 

"  Only  in  eternity  shall  we  be  able  to  know  the  in- 
fluence of  that  one  Bible  in  the  hands  of  a  faithful 
farmer   in   his  school   around   a   rice  sieve." 


^-  % 


SEVENTH-DAY  ADVENTIST  CHAPEL  AND  BEADING-BOOM,    SHANGHAI 


^  £•  ^• 


^  ^ 


iiiiiiitiiniiiiii 


344 


THE    INFLUENCE   OF  A   CHANGED   LIFE 

A  GROUP  of  strange  men  sat  around  the  study 
table  before  the  open  door  of  a  mission  chapel. 
They  were  talking  earnestly  with  the  pastor,  who  was 
trying  to  explain  something  out  of  the  book  lying 
before  him  on  the  table.  It  was  evident  from  the 
quaint  clothes  they  wore  that  these  men  were  from  the 
country. 

Life  in  a  mission  station  was  new  to  me  at  that  time, 
and  every  incident  full  of  interest.  Who  were  these 
odd-looking  men,   and  why  had   they  come  here? 

"  They  are  inquirers  from  a  village  some  twenty 
miles  farther  west  up  the  river  and  some  distance  back 
in  the  country,"  explained  our  hostess,  a  young  woman 
living  alone   at  the  mission. 

That  was  not  a  very  definite  way  to  locate  a  village. 
But  I  remembered  the  Chinese  are  not  very  exact  in 
their  knowledge  of  geography  and  not  definite  in  speak- 
ing of  distances  and  locations.  Perhaps,  after  all,  that 
was  as  much  as  she  knew  of  where  fhey  had  come  from. 

"  They  are  inquirers,"  our  hostess  had  said.  Those 
eager  faces,  crossed  now  and  then  by  a  look  of  surprise 
or  wonder,  did  seem  to  show  they  were  inquiring  and 
learning,  too,  about  something  in  which  they  were 
deeply  interested. 

"What  are  inquirers?  What  are  they  inquiring 
about?  "  I  asked. 

"  Persons  who  have  heard  something  about  the  gospel, 
and  come  to  the  mission  to  study  further,  are  called 
inquirers."  Then  she  related  how  these  men  had  been 
led  to  inquire  about  the  person  Jesus  Christ,  and  how 
he  saves  those  who  believe  in  him. 

23  345 


346  A'Chu  and   Other  Stories 

Some  months  before,  a  younger  brother  of  the  tall 
man  seated  at  the  table  opposite  the  pastor  had  wan- 
dered into  this  same  chapel.  He  had  not  liked  to  work 
on  the  farm;  and  becoming  discontented  with  his  home, 
came  to  the  city,  where  he  expected  to  get  money  easily. 
In  the  city  he  fell  into  bad  company  and  all  manner 
of  temptations.  His  money  was  soon  spent,  and  he  was 
obliged  to  return  to  his  home  in  the  country.  There 
he  behaved  so  badly  that  the  family  were  disgraced. 
They  gave  him  more  money,   and  sent  him  away. 

He  then  returned  to  the  city,  where  he  gambled  and 
feasted  and  drank  till  he  became  a  useless  fellow.  His 
new  friends  cast  him  out.  Wandering  about  in  search 
of  a  bite  to  eat  and  a  corner  in  which  to  sleep,  the 
spendthrift  passed  the  chapel.  Through  the  open  door 
he  heard  the  invitation,  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that 
labor  and  are  heavy-laden."  He  slipped  inside  and  sat 
down.  He  heard  the  pastor  tell  of  the  Friend  of  the 
friendless,  the  Saviour  of  the  helpless.  He  came  again 
the  next  day,  and  after  that  every  time  the  chapel  door 
was  opened,  for  four  or  five  days. 

A  month  or  more  later  he  came  back,  straight  and 
clean  in  mind  and  body.  For  more  than  a  week  he 
studied  earnestly  with  the  pastor,  then  asked  that  he 
might  be  baptized  and  reckoned  as  a  follower  of  Christ. 
The  pastor  advised  him  to  wait  a  while,  till  they  should 
become  better  acquainted,  and  promised  to  visit  him  at 
his  village  in  the  country  for  this  purpose. 

Before  this  promise  was  fulfilled,  the  young  man's 
eldest  brother  called  with  a  friend  to  visit  the  pastor. 
They  had  walked  the  long  way  from  their  country  vil- 
lage to  the  city  in  order  to  purchase,  at  any  price  that 
might  be  asked,  some  of  the  magic  potion  with  which 


Influence  of  a  Changed  Lift 


347 


the  Christians  had  worked  such  a  wonderful  change  in 
this  young  man. 

"Why,"  said  the  brother,  **  he  is  a  new  man!  Be- 
fore, he  smoked  opium,  was  indolent,  and  a  spendthrift. 
He  left  his  family  to  get  its  own  living.  He  was  a 
blasphemer,   and   an   altogether   bad   man." 


INTERIOR    OF     CHAPEL,    SHANGHAI 


"  I  did  not  know  what  to  do  with  him,"  added  the 
elder  man  with  a  fatherly  air.  *'  Since  his  visit  to 
the  Christians  he  is  all  changed.  He  has  left  off  his 
bad  habits,  attends  to  business,  and  cares  for  his  family. 
More  than  this,  he  continually  labors  to  bring  his  neigh- 
bors to  follow  his  good  example." 

"  Give  us  of  your  Christian  medicine,  that  we,  too, 
may  become  kind   and  true  men,"  they  urged. 


348 


A'Chu  mid  Other  Stories 


The  pastor  explained  that  no  medicine  had  worked 
this  change  in  their  younger  brother.  **  Though  thou 
wash  thee  with  niter,  and  take  thee  much  soap,  yet 
thine  iniquity  is  marked  before  me,  saith  the  Lord  God." 
Instead,  it  was  the  power  of  a  crucified  and  risen  Sav- 


CHINESE    EVAX(iELI,ST    WITH    BOOKSTAND    AXI)     CHART 

iour  that  had  changed  his  life.  A  little  book  which 
he  would  sell  them  for  a  few  cents  would  reveal  this 
truth  to  them.  With  the  New  Testament  Scriptures 
in  their  pockets,  they  took  their  journey  homeward,  more 
astonished  than  when  they  came  by  what  they  had  seen 
and  heard. 


hifluence  of  a  Changed  Lift 


349 


Several  weeks  had  elapsed  since  that  visit.  This  com- 
pany of  inquirers,  seated  around  the  chapel  study  table, 
had  been  selected  by  their  community  as  the  best  edu- 
cated and  most  honorable  men  of  the  village  to  visit 
the  mission.  They  were  to  stay  and  study  the  Christian 
faith.  If  they  became  convinced  that  it  was  really  true, 
that  is,  if  it  could  be  trusted  to  do  for  others  what  it 
had  done  for  their  prodigal  young  man,  then  they  were 
to  bring  back  with  them  a  teacher  who  would  lead 
them  all  in  the  Christian  way. 

Such  was  the  influence  of  one  young  man  who  had 
become  converted  to  Christ. 


STUD  VIM.   TIIK   J'.lUi.K 


EVANGELIST  D.TOU  AND  HIS  WIFE,  OF  CAN  DJOU,  KIANGSI 


350 


A   STEADFAST   CHRISTIAN 

WHEN  a  certain  Chinese  young  man  became  a 
Christian,  he  decided  to  spend  all  his  strength  in 
leading  others  to  believe  in  Jesus.  The  old  heathen 
name  given  by  his  parents  was  laid  aside,  together  with 
many  of  his  old  habits  of  life,  as  betting,  gambling, 
going  to  shows  and  theater  plays.  He  would  spend  no 
more  time  on  these  hurtful  and  useless  amusements, 
now  that  he  knew  of  the  better  things  concerning  sal- 
vation and  an  eternal  life.  He  took  a  new  name,  Chun 
Yee  (preaching  righteousness),  to  represent  his  new 
intention. 

There  was  a  great  commotion  in  his  home  village 
when  the  people  heard  of  the  change  in  this  young 
man's  ways  and  of  the  new  name  he  had  taken.  Greater 
still  was  the  commotion  when  it  was  reported  that  he 
was  about  to  be  baptized  in  the  open  running  stream 
on  the  outskirts  of  the  village,  and  to  join  the  Christian 
church.  To  save  their  village  from  riot  and  to  prevent 
perhaps  the  death  of  some  member  of  his  family,  Chun 
Yee  left  his  home  unobserved,  and  walked  eighteen  miles 
to  a  quiet  spot  in  the  country,  where  he  was  baptized. 

Like  most  of  his  countrymen,  Chun  Yee  had  been 
married  while  still  a  very  young  man,  perhaps  not  more 
than  eighteen  years  of  age.  His  wife  was  two  or  three 
years  younger  than  himself.  But  though  young,  she 
had  a  mind  of  her  own,  and  that  mind  was  devotedly 
set  on  heathen  worship.  Between  the  nagging  of  a 
strong-willed  wife  and  the  scolding  of  a  loud-voiced 
mother,  the  young  Christian  was  doomed  to  a  sorry 
time  at  home.  His  wife  continually  teased  him  for 
being  so  weak  and  silly  as  to  forsake  the  gods  of  their 

351 


352 


A^Chu  and  Other  Stories 


own  "  ancient  and  honorable  country "  to  follow  the 
**  foreign-deviFs  religion."  To  show  that  she  had  no 
intention  of  taking  up  with  his  foolish  notions,  she 
doubled  her  service  to  the  idols  in  their  own  home, 
and    went    twice    as    often    as    before    to    the    temple. 


THE  BAMBOO   MAT  TABERNACLE 


A  Steadfast  Christian  353 

The  mother,  loud  and  angry,  talked  and  talked  of 
this  absurd  idea  of  her  son  to  become  one  of  those 
scorned  and  hated  Christians,  despised  by  everybody. 
She  bemoaned  herself  that  he  would  not  worship  at 
the  tombs  of  their  ancestors,  and  by  this  neglect  would 
cut  himself  off  from  their  blessing.  He  certainly  would 
fall  into  poverty  and  disgrace. 

One  of  his  children  became  sick  and  died.  At  this 
both  mother  and  wife  mocked  him  with  scorn.  "  See," 
said  they,  **  what  you  have  brought  upon  yourself,  and 
what  sorrow  to  us!  This  is  the  result  of  your  wor- 
shiping the  foreign-devil's  God." 

But  none  of  these  things  afEected  his  steadfast  pur- 
pose to  be  a  Christian.  Indeed,  all  this  trouble  only 
made  him  more  determined  to  cling  closely  to  Jesus, 
who  alone  could  give  him  comfort. 

While  visiting  a  friend  one  day,  the  mother  heard 
how  another  Chinese  woman  had  prevented  her  son 
from  going  to  the  mission  chapel.  She  made  up  her 
mind  to  try  the  experiment  on  Chun  Yee.  This  other 
mother  had  threatened  to  cut  off  her  son's  queue,  which 
so  frightened  the  young  man  that  he  never  went  near 
the  chapel  again. 

That  night  Chun  Yee's  mother  got  a  pair  of  big 
shears,  and  coming  up  to  him,  said,  "  Now,  if  you  do 
not  promise  to  stop  going  to  that  foreign-devil  chapel, 
I  am  going  to  cut  off  your  hair.  You  then  will  look 
like  the  foreigner  you   really  are." 

She  had  not  realized  the  power  and  strength  of  pur- 
pose that  had  come  to  her  son  through  faith  in  Jesus. 

"  Here  it  is.  Cut  it  off,  if  you  will,"  he  replied, 
smilingly  holding  out  with  one  hand  the  long,  black 
braid   of   hair. 


4-^ 


.4 


xBBM 

,         ! 

111 

W'\ 

,  1  i 

IHPP 

4- 


■^ 


A  Steadfast  Christian  355 

"What,    can   nothing  turn  you?"   she   exclaimed. 

"  Nothing,  mother,"  he  replied,  and  she  heard  him 
repeat  softly,  "  I  am  persuaded,  that  neither  death,  nor 
life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things 
present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor 
any  other  creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from 
the  love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord." 

She  had  thought  to  frighten  him.  Horror  upon 
horrors!  he  did  not  resist  even  her  threat.  No;  she 
would  not  disgrace  herself  by  making  her  boy  more  like 
the  hated  foreigners  than  he  already  was.  She  put 
away  the  scissors,  saying  sullenly, 

"  It  is  of  no  use;  he  has  taken  some  of  their  Jesus 
medicine.  Nothing  can  cure  him.  He  is  lost  to  me. 
When  I  die,  he  will  not  come  and  bring  me  food  nor 
worship  at  my  grave.  Oh,  oh!  I  shall  become  a  wan- 
dering beggar,  for  whom  no  one  has  a  care!  " 

At  this  she  burst  into  loud  weeping.  She  cursed  the 
foreigners  for  coming  to  their  land  and  leading  her  son 
away  from  the  worship  of  China's  gods.  She  became 
hysterical,  and  raved  in  frenzy.  In  desperation  and 
anger  she  even  cursed  her  son,  and  declared  he  was 
no   longer  her  child. 

Chun  Yee  quietly  and  patiently  bore  all  the  abuse 
his  mother  and  wife  heaped  upon  him.  Day  by  day, 
week  by  week,  he  grew  to  be  more  like  Christ.  By 
and  by  they  began  to  think  more  reasonably.  Perhaps 
this  religion  of  Jesus  was  not  so  bad  as  some  people 
made  out.  For,  see  their  man!  He  did  not  now  visit 
the  gambling  house  nor  smoke  opium  any  more.  He 
never  returned  curses  for  cursing,  but  was  kind  and 
patient  under  all  their  ill  treatment.  "  Perhaps  we  too 
had    better    learn    this   Jesus    doctrine,"    they   said. 


356 


A^Chu  a?id   Other  Stories 


When  the  missionary  saw  that  Chun  Yee  had  indeed 
become  a  stanch  and  steadfast  Christian,  he  chose  this 
young  man  for  a  colporteur  to  travel  about  through  the 
country  and  villages  for  the  purpose  of  selling  Bibles 
and   tracts   teaching  the   Christian    faith.     Wherever   he 


SIIANGTSAI    HSIEN    MISSION 

went  he  preached  the  word  of  God,  even  as  his  name 
was  now  called,  "  Preaching  Righteousness."  He  fully 
believed  and  trusted  in  Jesus,  and  rejoiced  in  making 
him  known  to  others. 

"How  bold  he  is!"  remarked  one  man  who  had 
long  professed  to  be  a  Christian.  "  He  is  not  afraid  to 
speak  to  me  about  my  sins.  All  men,  high  or  low,  are 
alike   in  his  eyes."V" 


A   Steadfast  Christian 


357 


Chun  Yee  had  not  been  sent  to  school  when  he  was 
young.  He  was  very  sorry  to  have  missed  an  educa- 
tion, but  he  was  very  constant  in  the  study  of  God's 
word.  One  day  he  was  overheard  in  earnest  conver- 
sation with  another  man  who  was  quite  a  learned 
scholar.  *'  All  your  learning  from  the  writing  of  China's 
wise  men  cannot  help  you  to  lead  others  to  Christ,"  he 
said  reverently.  "  The  Bible  alone  can  teach  one  this 
secret.  You  must  study  the  Bible  more,  and  then  you 
will  be  able  to  lead  others  into  its  true  teaching." 

In  the  colporteur  work  Chun  Yee  often  walked  thirty 
miles  a  day  over  uneven  paths.  Through  the  day  he 
sold  books  by  the  wayside,  on  the  mountain  paths,  or 
in  the  village  inn,  wherever  he  could  persuade  one  to 
buy.  In  the  evening  he  preached  the  gospel  to  groups 
of  men  who  gathered  to  hear.     Everywhere  he  had  only 


M 


.\    CHINESE    WRITING    BO>v 


35S 


A'Chu  and   Other  Stories 


one  story  to  tell,  and  that  story  was  always  of  Jesus 
and  his  love.  Though  he  never  became  great  or  learned, 
he  loved  the  Lord  with  all  his  heart,  and  God  gave 
him  power  to  turn  many  of  his  countrymen  away  from 
their   idols  and   toward   the  kingdom   of   God. 


SCHOOL  GIRLS,  HON  AN 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 

Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


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AY  24  1959 

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U.  C.  BERKELEY 


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BOOK  STORi 
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10LSPO  4,  enie 


IT 


